diff --git a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mixed_cluster/10_basic.yml b/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mixed_cluster/10_basic.yml
index 14282e6a00f..09124e7b8cb 100644
--- a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mixed_cluster/10_basic.yml
+++ b/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/mixed_cluster/10_basic.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 "Index data and search on the mixed cluster":
  - do:
      cluster.health:
-        wait_for_status: green
+        wait_for_status: yellow
         wait_for_nodes: 2
 
  - do:
diff --git a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/old_cluster/10_basic.yml b/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/old_cluster/10_basic.yml
index e5312160796..cb24cdbdbdb 100644
--- a/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/old_cluster/10_basic.yml
+++ b/qa/rolling-upgrade/src/test/resources/rest-api-spec/test/old_cluster/10_basic.yml
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@
   - do:
       indices.create:
         index: index_with_replicas # dummy index to ensure we can recover indices with replicas just fine
-
+        body:
+          # if the node with the replica is the first to be restarted, then delayed
+          # allocation will kick in, and the cluster health won't return to GREEN
+          # before timing out
+          index.unassigned.node_left.delayed_timeout: "100ms"
   - do:
       bulk:
         refresh: true