diff --git a/tests/fixtures.py b/tests/fixtures.py
index 2156b0d5a..16e2c1296 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures.py
@@ -201,8 +201,15 @@ def _running_eventlet_server(app):
     process = ctx.Process(target=eventlet.wsgi.server, args=(socket, app), daemon=True)
     try:
         process.start()
+        start_time = time.time()
+        sleep_time = 0.01
         while not is_url_response_ok(urllib.parse.urljoin(url, "index")):
-            time.sleep(0.5)
+            if (time.time() - start_time) > 5:
+                raise RuntimeError(f"Server did not start within 5 seconds at {url}")
+            time.sleep(sleep_time)
+            sleep_time *= 2
+            if sleep_time > 1:
+                sleep_time = 1
         yield url
     finally:
         process.terminate()