diff --git a/command/agent/http_test.go b/command/agent/http_test.go
index 5521b74db..db2d1e825 100644
--- a/command/agent/http_test.go
+++ b/command/agent/http_test.go
@@ -1006,6 +1006,12 @@ func TestHTTPServer_Limits_OK(t *testing.T) {
 			}(i)
 		}
 
+		select {
+		case err := <-errCh:
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected error from connection prior to limit: %T %v", err, err)
+		case <-time.After(500 * time.Millisecond):
+		}
+
 		// Assert a new connection is dropped
 		conn, err := net.DialTimeout("tcp", addr, 1*time.Second)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -1016,7 +1022,9 @@ func TestHTTPServer_Limits_OK(t *testing.T) {
 		conn.SetReadDeadline(deadline)
 		n, err := conn.Read(buf)
 		require.Zero(t, n)
-		require.Equal(t, io.EOF, err)
+
+		// Soft-fail as following assertion helps with debugging
+		assert.Equal(t, io.EOF, err)
 
 		// Assert existing connections are ok
 		require.Len(t, errCh, 0)