diff --git a/test/functional/lua/vim_spec.lua b/test/functional/lua/vim_spec.lua
index dd0c3d3868..b38864c0a3 100644
--- a/test/functional/lua/vim_spec.lua
+++ b/test/functional/lua/vim_spec.lua
@@ -1338,7 +1338,9 @@ describe('lua stdlib', function()
     ]],
     }
     feed('<cr>')
-    eq({ 3, NIL }, api.nvim_get_var('yy'))
+    retry(10, nil, function()
+      eq({ 3, NIL }, api.nvim_get_var('yy'))
+    end)
 
     exec_lua([[timer:close()]])
   end)