diff --git a/test/units/TEST-13-NSPAWN.nspawn.sh b/test/units/TEST-13-NSPAWN.nspawn.sh
index b27bfbacf7..99fe94943b 100755
--- a/test/units/TEST-13-NSPAWN.nspawn.sh
+++ b/test/units/TEST-13-NSPAWN.nspawn.sh
@@ -933,7 +933,7 @@ EOF
 
 testcase_machinectl_bind() {
     local service_path service_name root container_name ec
-    local cmd='for i in $(seq 1 20); do if test -f /tmp/marker && test -f /tmp/marker-varlink; then exit 0; fi; sleep .5; done; exit 1;'
+    local cmd="timeout 10 bash -c 'until [[ -f /tmp/marker ]] && [[ -f /tmp/marker-varlink ]]; do sleep .5; done'; sleep 3"
 
     root="$(mktemp -d /var/lib/machines/TEST-13-NSPAWN.machinectl-bind.XXX)"
     create_dummy_container "$root"