diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/filestructurefinder/TimeoutCheckerTests.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/filestructurefinder/TimeoutCheckerTests.java
index 63346de64c2..66b5470963e 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/filestructurefinder/TimeoutCheckerTests.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/filestructurefinder/TimeoutCheckerTests.java
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ public class TimeoutCheckerTests extends FileStructureTestCase {
         }
     }
 
+    @AwaitsFix(bugUrl = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/48861")
     public void testWatchdog() throws Exception {
         TimeValue timeout = TimeValue.timeValueMillis(500);
         try (TimeoutChecker timeoutChecker = new TimeoutChecker("watchdog test", timeout, scheduler)) {