diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/TestMiniSolrCloudCluster.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/TestMiniSolrCloudCluster.java
index 2a5e1d0a4a5..639977df890 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/TestMiniSolrCloudCluster.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/TestMiniSolrCloudCluster.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import java.io.File;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.apache.lucene.util.LuceneTestCase;
 import org.apache.solr.SolrTestCaseJ4;
@@ -136,6 +137,8 @@ public class TestMiniSolrCloudCluster extends LuceneTestCase {
       SolrInputDocument doc = new SolrInputDocument();
       doc.setField("id", "1");
 
+      ZkStateReader zkStateReader = new ZkStateReader(zkClient);
+      waitForRecoveriesToFinish(collectionName, zkStateReader, true, true, 330);
       cloudSolrServer.add(doc);
       cloudSolrServer.commit();
       SolrQuery query = new SolrQuery();
@@ -144,7 +147,6 @@ public class TestMiniSolrCloudCluster extends LuceneTestCase {
       assertEquals(1, rsp.getResults().getNumFound());
 
       // remove a server not hosting any replicas
-      ZkStateReader zkStateReader = new ZkStateReader(zkClient);
       zkStateReader.updateClusterState(true);
       ClusterState clusterState = zkStateReader.getClusterState();
       HashMap<String, JettySolrRunner> jettyMap = new HashMap<String, JettySolrRunner>();
@@ -226,4 +228,55 @@ public class TestMiniSolrCloudCluster extends LuceneTestCase {
     request.setPath("/admin/collections");
     return server.request(request);
   }
+
+  protected void waitForRecoveriesToFinish(String collection,
+      ZkStateReader zkStateReader, boolean verbose, boolean failOnTimeout, int timeoutSeconds)
+      throws Exception {
+    log.info("Wait for recoveries to finish - collection: " + collection + " failOnTimeout:" + failOnTimeout + " timeout (sec):" + timeoutSeconds);
+    boolean cont = true;
+    int cnt = 0;
+    
+    while (cont) {
+      if (verbose) System.out.println("-");
+      boolean sawLiveRecovering = false;
+      zkStateReader.updateClusterState(true);
+      ClusterState clusterState = zkStateReader.getClusterState();
+      Map<String,Slice> slices = clusterState.getSlicesMap(collection);
+      assertNotNull("Could not find collection:" + collection, slices);
+      for (Map.Entry<String,Slice> entry : slices.entrySet()) {
+        Map<String,Replica> shards = entry.getValue().getReplicasMap();
+        for (Map.Entry<String,Replica> shard : shards.entrySet()) {
+          if (verbose) System.out.println("rstate:"
+              + shard.getValue().getStr(ZkStateReader.STATE_PROP)
+              + " live:"
+              + clusterState.liveNodesContain(shard.getValue().getNodeName()));
+          String state = shard.getValue().getStr(ZkStateReader.STATE_PROP);
+          if ((state.equals(ZkStateReader.RECOVERING) || state
+              .equals(ZkStateReader.SYNC) || state.equals(ZkStateReader.DOWN))
+              && clusterState.liveNodesContain(shard.getValue().getStr(
+              ZkStateReader.NODE_NAME_PROP))) {
+            sawLiveRecovering = true;
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      if (!sawLiveRecovering || cnt == timeoutSeconds) {
+        if (!sawLiveRecovering) {
+          if (verbose) System.out.println("no one is recoverying");
+        } else {
+          if (verbose) System.out.println("Gave up waiting for recovery to finish..");
+          if (failOnTimeout) {
+            fail("There are still nodes recoverying - waited for " + timeoutSeconds + " seconds");
+            // won't get here
+            return;
+          }
+        }
+        cont = false;
+      } else {
+        Thread.sleep(1000);
+      }
+      cnt++;
+    }
+
+    log.info("Recoveries finished - collection: " + collection);
+  }
 }