diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/autoscaling/sim/TestSimLargeCluster.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/autoscaling/sim/TestSimLargeCluster.java
index b4dda1b9a7d..7834c70d65b 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/autoscaling/sim/TestSimLargeCluster.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/cloud/autoscaling/sim/TestSimLargeCluster.java
@@ -98,7 +98,8 @@ public class TestSimLargeCluster extends SimSolrCloudTestCase {
     // disable .auto_add_replicas (once it exists)
     CloudTestUtils.waitForTriggerToBeScheduled(cluster, ".auto_add_replicas");
     CloudTestUtils.suspendTrigger(cluster, ".auto_add_replicas");
-    
+    cluster.getSimClusterStateProvider().createSystemCollection();
+
     waitForSeconds = 5;
     triggerStartedCount.set(0);
     triggerFinishedCount.set(0);