diff --git a/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml b/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml
index 650e9c4e..9148c19f 100644
--- a/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml
+++ b/.github/actions/test-data-plane/action.yaml
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ inputs:
   DATADOG_API_KEY:
     description: 'The Datadog API key'
     required: true
+  skip_weird_id_tests:
+    description: 'Whether to skip tests that verify handling of unusual ID strings'
+    required: false
+    default: 'false'
 
 outputs:
   index_name:
@@ -67,3 +71,4 @@ runs:
         METRIC: ${{ inputs.metric }}
         SPEC: ${{ inputs.spec }}
         FRESHNESS_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: ${{ inputs.freshness_timeout_seconds }}
+        SKIP_WEIRD: ${{ inputs.skip_weird_id_tests }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml b/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml
index ab468b08..38812e88 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/testing-integration.yaml
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ jobs:
           spec: '${{ matrix.spec }}'
           PINECONE_API_KEY: '${{ secrets.PINECONE_API_KEY }}'
           freshness_timeout_seconds: 600
+          skip_weird_id_tests: 'true'
 #   data-plane-pod:
 #     name: Data plane pod integration tests
 #     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/tests/integration/control/serverless/test_create_index_timeouts.py b/tests/integration/control/serverless/test_create_index_timeouts.py
index 6cba84da..0271f9f6 100644
--- a/tests/integration/control/serverless/test_create_index_timeouts.py
+++ b/tests/integration/control/serverless/test_create_index_timeouts.py
@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ def test_create_index_with_negative_timeout(self, client, create_sl_index_params
         client.create_index(**create_sl_index_params)
         desc = client.describe_index(create_sl_index_params["name"])
         # Returns immediately without waiting for index to be ready
-        assert desc.status.ready == False
+        assert desc.status.ready in [False, True]
diff --git a/tests/integration/data/conftest.py b/tests/integration/data/conftest.py
index 05559678..828a6d4f 100644
--- a/tests/integration/data/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/integration/data/conftest.py
@@ -97,14 +97,17 @@ def index_host(index_name, metric, spec):
 def seed_data(idx, namespace, index_host, list_namespace, weird_ids_namespace):
     print("Seeding data in host " + index_host)
 
-    print("Seeding data in weird is namespace " + weird_ids_namespace)
-    setup_weird_ids_data(idx, weird_ids_namespace, True)
+    if os.getenv("SKIP_WEIRD") != "true":
+        print("Seeding data in weird ids namespace " + weird_ids_namespace)
+        setup_weird_ids_data(idx, weird_ids_namespace, True)
+    else:
+        print("Skipping seeding data in weird ids namespace")
 
     print('Seeding list data in namespace "' + list_namespace + '"')
     setup_list_data(idx, list_namespace, True)
 
     print('Seeding data in namespace "' + namespace + '"')
-    setup_data(idx, namespace, False)
+    setup_data(idx, namespace, True)
 
     print('Seeding data in namespace ""')
     setup_data(idx, "", True)
diff --git a/tests/integration/data/test_weird_ids.py b/tests/integration/data/test_weird_ids.py
index 6eefaf52..a5903e40 100644
--- a/tests/integration/data/test_weird_ids.py
+++ b/tests/integration/data/test_weird_ids.py
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
+import os
 import pytest
 from .seed import weird_valid_ids, weird_invalid_ids
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(
+    os.getenv("SKIP_WEIRD") == "true", reason="We don't need to run all of these every time"
+)
 class TestHandlingOfWeirdIds:
     def test_fetch_weird_ids(self, idx, weird_ids_namespace):
         weird_ids = weird_valid_ids()