diff --git a/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authz/store/CompositeRolesStoreTests.java b/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authz/store/CompositeRolesStoreTests.java
index d45ab092b28..ecb7111df93 100644
--- a/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authz/store/CompositeRolesStoreTests.java
+++ b/elasticsearch/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/security/authz/store/CompositeRolesStoreTests.java
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ public class CompositeRolesStoreTests extends ESTestCase {
         verify(nativeRolesStore).getRoleDescriptors(isA(String[].class), any(ActionListener.class));
 
         final int numberOfTimesToCall = scaledRandomIntBetween(0, 32);
-        final boolean getSuperuserRole = randomBoolean();
+        final boolean getSuperuserRole = randomBoolean() && roleName.equals(ReservedRolesStore.SUPERUSER_ROLE.name()) == false;
         final Set<String> names = getSuperuserRole ? Sets.newHashSet(roleName, ReservedRolesStore.SUPERUSER_ROLE.name()) :
                 Collections.singleton(roleName);
         for (int i = 0; i < numberOfTimesToCall; i++) {
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ public class CompositeRolesStoreTests extends ESTestCase {
             future.actionGet();
         }
 
-        if (getSuperuserRole) {
+        if (getSuperuserRole && numberOfTimesToCall > 0) {
             // the superuser role was requested so we get the role descriptors again
             verify(reservedRolesStore, times(2)).roleDescriptors();
         }