diff --git a/pkg/ccl/multitenantccl/tenantcostclient/tenant_side_test.go b/pkg/ccl/multitenantccl/tenantcostclient/tenant_side_test.go
index 7d82def2e9b9..9fb7e7ea923f 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/multitenantccl/tenantcostclient/tenant_side_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/multitenantccl/tenantcostclient/tenant_side_test.go
@@ -854,8 +854,9 @@ func TestConsumption(t *testing.T) {
 	hostServer, _, _ := serverutils.StartServer(t, base.TestServerArgs{})
 	defer hostServer.Stopper().Stop(context.Background())
 
+	const targetPeriod = time.Millisecond
 	st := cluster.MakeTestingClusterSettings()
-	tenantcostclient.TargetPeriodSetting.Override(context.Background(), &st.SV, time.Millisecond)
+	tenantcostclient.TargetPeriodSetting.Override(context.Background(), &st.SV, targetPeriod)
 	tenantcostclient.CPUUsageAllowance.Override(context.Background(), &st.SV, 0)
 
 	testProvider := newTestProvider()
@@ -884,21 +885,32 @@ func TestConsumption(t *testing.T) {
 		r.Exec(t, "INSERT INTO t (v) SELECT repeat('1234567890', 1024) FROM generate_series(1, 10) AS g(i)")
 		const expectedBytes = 10 * 10 * 1024
 
-		afterWrite := testProvider.waitForConsumption(t)
-		delta := afterWrite
-		delta.Sub(&beforeWrite)
-		if delta.WriteBatches < 1 || delta.WriteRequests < 2 || delta.WriteBytes < expectedBytes*2 {
-			t.Errorf("usage after write: %s", delta.String())
-		}
+		// Try a few times because background activity can trigger bucket
+		// requests before the test query does.
+		testutils.SucceedsSoon(t, func() error {
+			afterWrite := testProvider.waitForConsumption(t)
+			delta := afterWrite
+			delta.Sub(&beforeWrite)
+			if delta.WriteBatches < 1 || delta.WriteRequests < 2 || delta.WriteBytes < expectedBytes*2 {
+				return errors.Newf("usage after write: %s", delta.String())
+			}
+			return nil
+		})
 
+		beforeRead := testProvider.waitForConsumption(t)
 		r.QueryStr(t, "SELECT min(v) FROM t")
 
-		afterRead := testProvider.waitForConsumption(t)
-		delta = afterRead
-		delta.Sub(&afterWrite)
-		if delta.ReadBatches < 1 || delta.ReadRequests < 1 || delta.ReadBytes < expectedBytes {
-			t.Errorf("usage after read: %s", delta.String())
-		}
+		// Try a few times because background activity can trigger bucket
+		// requests before the test query does.
+		testutils.SucceedsSoon(t, func() error {
+			afterRead := testProvider.waitForConsumption(t)
+			delta := afterRead
+			delta.Sub(&beforeRead)
+			if delta.ReadBatches < 1 || delta.ReadRequests < 1 || delta.ReadBytes < expectedBytes {
+				return errors.Newf("usage after read: %s", delta.String())
+			}
+			return nil
+		})
 		r.Exec(t, "DELETE FROM t WHERE true")
 	}
 	// Make sure some CPU usage is reported.