diff --git a/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlNativeDataFrameAnalyticsIntegTestCase.java b/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlNativeDataFrameAnalyticsIntegTestCase.java
index f289243e6eb..d2d34417bc5 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlNativeDataFrameAnalyticsIntegTestCase.java
+++ b/x-pack/plugin/ml/qa/native-multi-node-tests/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/ml/integration/MlNativeDataFrameAnalyticsIntegTestCase.java
@@ -32,17 +32,21 @@ import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ml.job.persistence.AnomalyDetectorsIndex;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ml.notifications.AuditorField;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.core.ml.utils.PhaseProgress;
 import org.elasticsearch.xpack.ml.dataframe.DataFrameAnalyticsTask;
+import org.hamcrest.Matcher;
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
 
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.anyOf;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasItems;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.startsWith;
 
 /**
  * Base class of ML integration tests that use a native data_frame_analytics process
@@ -187,18 +191,16 @@ abstract class MlNativeDataFrameAnalyticsIntegTestCase extends MlNativeIntegTest
         // Since calls to write the AbstractAuditor are sent and forgot (async) we could have returned from the start,
         // finished the job (as this is a very short analytics job), all without the audit being fully written.
         assertBusy(() -> assertTrue(indexExists(AuditorField.NOTIFICATIONS_INDEX)));
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+        Matcher<String>[] itemMatchers = Arrays.stream(expectedAuditMessagePrefixes).map(Matchers::startsWith).toArray(Matcher[]::new);
         assertBusy(() -> {
-            String[] actualAuditMessages = fetchAllAuditMessages(configId);
-            assertThat("Messages: " + Arrays.toString(actualAuditMessages), actualAuditMessages.length,
-                equalTo(expectedAuditMessagePrefixes.length));
-            for (int i = 0; i < actualAuditMessages.length; i++) {
-                assertThat(actualAuditMessages[i], startsWith(expectedAuditMessagePrefixes[i]));
-            }
+            final List<String> allAuditMessages = fetchAllAuditMessages(configId);
+            assertThat(allAuditMessages, hasItems(itemMatchers));
+            assertThat("Messages: " + allAuditMessages, allAuditMessages, hasSize(expectedAuditMessagePrefixes.length));
         });
     }
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-    private static String[] fetchAllAuditMessages(String dataFrameAnalyticsId) throws Exception {
+    private static List<String> fetchAllAuditMessages(String dataFrameAnalyticsId) {
         RefreshRequest refreshRequest = new RefreshRequest(AuditorField.NOTIFICATIONS_INDEX);
         RefreshResponse refreshResponse = client().execute(RefreshAction.INSTANCE, refreshRequest).actionGet();
         assertThat(refreshResponse.getStatus().getStatus(), anyOf(equalTo(200), equalTo(201)));
@@ -212,6 +214,6 @@ abstract class MlNativeDataFrameAnalyticsIntegTestCase extends MlNativeIntegTest
 
         return Arrays.stream(searchResponse.getHits().getHits())
             .map(hit -> (String) hit.getSourceAsMap().get("message"))
-            .toArray(String[]::new);
+            .collect(Collectors.toList());
     }
 }