diff --git a/integration-tests/test_fluvio_python.py b/integration-tests/test_fluvio_python.py
index cb9aabd..b0364c2 100644
--- a/integration-tests/test_fluvio_python.py
+++ b/integration-tests/test_fluvio_python.py
@@ -37,9 +37,18 @@ def common_setup(self, sm_path=None):
         try:
             self.admin.create_topic(self.topic)
         except Exception as err:
-            print("Retrying after create_topic error {}", err)
-            time.sleep(5)
-            self.admin.create_topic(self.topic)
+            print("create_topic error {}, will try to verify", err)
+
+        # list topics to verify topic was created
+        max_retries = 100
+        while max_retries > 0:
+            topic = self.admin.list_topics([self.topic])
+            if len(topic) > 0:
+                break
+            max_retries -= 1
+            if max_retries == 0:
+                self.fail("setup: Failed to create topic")
+            time.sleep(0.1)
 
     def setUp(self):
         self.common_setup()
diff --git a/integration-tests/test_produce.py b/integration-tests/test_produce.py
index cb17bcd..4ef5921 100644
--- a/integration-tests/test_produce.py
+++ b/integration-tests/test_produce.py
@@ -33,9 +33,7 @@ def common_setup(self, sm_path=None):
         try:
             self.admin.create_topic(self.topic)
         except Exception as err:
-            print("Retrying after create_topic error {}", err)
-            time.sleep(5)
-            self.admin.create_topic(self.topic)
+            print("create_topic error {}, will try to verify", err)
 
         # list topics to verify topic was created
         max_retries = 100