diff --git a/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm b/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm
index f4fa600..4346423 100644
*** a/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm
--- b/src/test/perl/PostgresNode.pm
*************** sub psql
*** 1213,1248 ****
  
  =pod
  
! =item $node->poll_query_until(dbname, query)
  
! Run a query once a second, until it returns 't' (i.e. SQL boolean true).
! Continues polling if psql returns an error result. Times out after 180 seconds.
  
  =cut
  
  sub poll_query_until
  {
! 	my ($self, $dbname, $query) = @_;
  
! 	my $max_attempts = 180;
! 	my $attempts     = 0;
  	my ($stdout, $stderr);
  
  	while ($attempts < $max_attempts)
  	{
- 		my $cmd =
- 		  [ 'psql', '-XAt', '-c', $query, '-d', $self->connstr($dbname) ];
  		my $result = IPC::Run::run $cmd, '>', \$stdout, '2>', \$stderr;
  
  		chomp($stdout);
  		$stdout =~ s/\r//g if $TestLib::windows_os;
! 		if ($stdout eq "t")
  		{
  			return 1;
  		}
  
! 		# Wait a second before retrying.
! 		sleep 1;
  		$attempts++;
  	}
  
--- 1213,1255 ----
  
  =pod
  
! =item $node->poll_query_until($dbname, $query [, $expected ])
  
! Run B<$query> repeatedly, until it returns the B<$expected> result
! ('t', or SQL boolean true, by default).
! Continues polling if B<psql> returns an error result.
! Times out after 180 seconds.
! Returns 1 if successful, 0 if timed out.
  
  =cut
  
  sub poll_query_until
  {
! 	my ($self, $dbname, $query, $expected) = @_;
  
! 	$expected = 't' unless defined($expected);	# default value
! 
! 	my $cmd =
! 		[ 'psql', '-XAt', '-c', $query, '-d', $self->connstr($dbname) ];
  	my ($stdout, $stderr);
+ 	my $max_attempts = 180 * 10;
+ 	my $attempts     = 0;
  
  	while ($attempts < $max_attempts)
  	{
  		my $result = IPC::Run::run $cmd, '>', \$stdout, '2>', \$stderr;
  
  		chomp($stdout);
  		$stdout =~ s/\r//g if $TestLib::windows_os;
! 
! 		if ($stdout eq $expected)
  		{
  			return 1;
  		}
  
! 		# Wait 0.1 second before retrying.
! 		select undef, undef, undef, 0.1;
! 
  		$attempts++;
  	}
  
diff --git a/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl b/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
index 8e3cc5e..0f999f0 100644
*** a/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
--- b/src/test/recovery/t/007_sync_rep.pl
*************** use Test::More tests => 11;
*** 9,15 ****
  my $check_sql =
  "SELECT application_name, sync_priority, sync_state FROM pg_stat_replication ORDER BY application_name;";
  
! # Check that sync_state of each standby is expected.
  # If $setting is given, synchronous_standby_names is set to it and
  # the configuration file is reloaded before the test.
  sub test_sync_state
--- 9,15 ----
  my $check_sql =
  "SELECT application_name, sync_priority, sync_state FROM pg_stat_replication ORDER BY application_name;";
  
! # Check that sync_state of each standby is expected (waiting till it is).
  # If $setting is given, synchronous_standby_names is set to it and
  # the configuration file is reloaded before the test.
  sub test_sync_state
*************** sub test_sync_state
*** 23,46 ****
  		$self->reload;
  	}
  
! 	my $timeout_max = 30;
! 	my $timeout     = 0;
! 	my $result;
! 
! 	# A reload may take some time to take effect on busy machines,
! 	# hence use a loop with a timeout to give some room for the test
! 	# to pass.
! 	while ($timeout < $timeout_max)
! 	{
! 		$result = $self->safe_psql('postgres', $check_sql);
! 
! 		last if ($result eq $expected);
! 
! 		$timeout++;
! 		sleep 1;
! 	}
! 
! 	is($result, $expected, $msg);
  }
  
  # Initialize master node
--- 23,29 ----
  		$self->reload;
  	}
  
! 	ok( $self->poll_query_until('postgres', $check_sql, $expected), $msg);
  }
  
  # Initialize master node