diff --git a/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts b/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts
index c076632c38..86e9dac62a 100644
--- a/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts
+++ b/aio/src/app/app.component.spec.ts
@@ -59,12 +59,9 @@ describe('AppComponent', () => {
 
   describe('with proper DocViewer', () => {
 
-    // For reasons unknown, not using `done` (even calling it synchronously),
-    // causes Chrome (v58+) to often get disconnected (at least on Windows and Travis).
-    beforeEach(done => {
+    beforeEach(() => {
       createTestingModule('a/b');
       initializeTest();
-      done();
     });
 
     it('should create', () => {
diff --git a/aio/src/test.ts b/aio/src/test.ts
index 722acc0395..b545af8bab 100644
--- a/aio/src/test.ts
+++ b/aio/src/test.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,14 @@ getTestBed().initTestEnvironment(
   platformBrowserDynamicTesting()
 );
 
+// HACK: Chrome 59 disconnects if there are too many synchronous tests in a row
+// because it appears to lock up the thread that communicates to Karma's socket
+// This async beforeEach gets called on every spec and releases the JS thread long
+// enough for the socket to continue to communicate.
+// The downside is that it creates a minor performance penalty of around 10-15%
+// increase in the time it takes to run out unit tests.
+beforeEach((done) => done());
+
 declare var System: any;
 // Then we find all the tests.
 System.import('./test-specs.ts')