diff --git a/openeogeotrellis/deploy/batch_job.py b/openeogeotrellis/deploy/batch_job.py
index 1b148caf..ac80eaa7 100644
--- a/openeogeotrellis/deploy/batch_job.py
+++ b/openeogeotrellis/deploy/batch_job.py
@@ -356,11 +356,13 @@ def run_job(
                 ml_model_metadata = result.get_model_metadata(str(output_file))
                 logger.info("Extracted ml model metadata from %s" % output_file)
             for name, asset in the_assets_metadata.items():
-                # TODO: test in separate branch
-                # if not asset.get("href").lower().startswith("s3:/"):
-                #     # fusemount could have some delay to make files accessible, so poll a bit:
-                #     asset_path = get_abs_path_of_asset(asset["href"], job_dir)
-                #     wait_till_path_available(asset_path)
+                href = asset["href"]
+                url = urlparse(href)
+                if url.scheme in ["", "file"]:
+                    file_path = url.path
+                    # fusemount could have some delay to make files accessible, so poll a bit:
+                    asset_path = get_abs_path_of_asset(file_path, job_dir)
+                    wait_till_path_available(asset_path)
                 add_permissions(Path(asset["href"]), stat.S_IWGRP)
             logger.info(f"wrote {len(the_assets_metadata)} assets to {output_file}")
             assets_metadata.append(the_assets_metadata)
diff --git a/openeogeotrellis/utils.py b/openeogeotrellis/utils.py
index 4bfe11c5..d3b345f4 100644
--- a/openeogeotrellis/utils.py
+++ b/openeogeotrellis/utils.py
@@ -773,13 +773,13 @@ def to_jsonable(x):
 
 def wait_till_path_available(path: Path):
     retry = 0
-    max_tries = 5
+    max_tries = 20  # Almost 2 minutes
     while not os.path.exists(path):
         if retry < max_tries:
             retry += 1
-            seconds = int(math.pow(2, retry + 2))  # exponential backoff
+            seconds = 5
             logger.info(f"Waiting for path to be available. Try {retry}/{max_tries} (sleep:{seconds}seconds): {path}")
             time.sleep(seconds)
         else:
             logger.warning(f"Path is not available after {max_tries} tries: {path}")
-            return  # TODO: Throw error instead
+            return  # TODO: Throw error instead?
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 5e22d708..24b519ae 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -1,16 +1,19 @@
-import os
-from typing import Union
-
-import sys
-from pathlib import Path
+from datetime import datetime
+from unittest import mock
 
 import boto3
+import contextlib
 import flask
-import pytest
 import moto
 import moto.server
+import os
+import pytest
+import sys
+import time_machine
+import typing
 import requests_mock
 from _pytest.terminal import TerminalReporter
+from pathlib import Path
 
 from openeo_driver.backend import OpenEoBackendImplementation, UserDefinedProcesses
 from openeo_driver.jobregistry import ElasticJobRegistry, JobRegistryInterface
@@ -179,6 +182,36 @@ def _setup_local_spark(out: TerminalReporter, verbosity=0):
 def api_version(request):
     return request.param
 
+# TODO: Deduplicate code with openeo-python-client
+class _Sleeper:
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.history = []
+
+    @contextlib.contextmanager
+    def patch(self, time_machine: time_machine.TimeMachineFixture) -> typing.Iterator["_Sleeper"]:
+        def sleep(seconds):
+            # Note: this requires that `time_machine.move_to()` has been called before
+            # also see https://github.com/adamchainz/time-machine/issues/247
+            time_machine.coordinates.shift(seconds)
+            self.history.append(seconds)
+
+        with mock.patch("time.sleep", new=sleep):
+            yield self
+
+    def did_sleep(self) -> bool:
+        return len(self.history) > 0
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def fast_sleep(time_machine) -> typing.Iterator[_Sleeper]:
+    """
+    Fixture using `time_machine` to make `sleep` instant and update the current time.
+    """
+    now = datetime.now().isoformat()
+    time_machine.move_to(now)
+    with _Sleeper().patch(time_machine=time_machine) as sleeper:
+        yield sleeper
+
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def udf_noop():
diff --git a/tests/deploy/test_batch_job.py b/tests/deploy/test_batch_job.py
index a70fcc4b..4436aa6a 100644
--- a/tests/deploy/test_batch_job.py
+++ b/tests/deploy/test_batch_job.py
@@ -391,7 +391,7 @@ def test_run_job(evaluate, tmp_path):
 
 
 @mock.patch("openeo_driver.ProcessGraphDeserializer.evaluate")
-def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata(evaluate, tmp_path):
+def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata(evaluate, tmp_path, fast_sleep):
     cube_mock = MagicMock()
 
     job_dir = tmp_path / "job-402"
@@ -517,9 +517,7 @@ def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata(evaluate, tmp_path):
 
 
 @mock.patch("openeo_driver.ProcessGraphDeserializer.evaluate")
-def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata_all_assets_same_epsg_and_bbox(
-    evaluate, tmp_path
-):
+def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata_all_assets_same_epsg_and_bbox(evaluate, tmp_path, fast_sleep):
     """When there are two raster assets with the same projection metadata, it should put
     those metadata at the level of the item instead of the individual bands.
     """
@@ -959,7 +957,7 @@ def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata_assets_with_different_epsg(
 
 
 @mock.patch("openeo_driver.ProcessGraphDeserializer.evaluate")
-def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata_job_dir_is_relative_path(evaluate):
+def test_run_job_get_projection_extension_metadata_job_dir_is_relative_path(evaluate, fast_sleep):
     cube_mock = MagicMock()
     # job dir should be a relative path,
     # We still want the test data to be cleaned up though, so we need to use