diff --git a/pubsub/v1samples/subscriptions/subscription_test.go b/pubsub/v1samples/subscriptions/subscription_test.go
index 6cf430452b..5aaaaa90eb 100644
--- a/pubsub/v1samples/subscriptions/subscription_test.go
+++ b/pubsub/v1samples/subscriptions/subscription_test.go
@@ -1078,15 +1078,18 @@ func publishMsgs(ctx context.Context, t *pubsub.Topic, numMsgs int) error {
 
 // getOrCreateTopic gets a topic or creates it if it doesn't exist.
 func getOrCreateTopic(ctx context.Context, client *pubsub.Client, topicID string) (*pubsub.Topic, error) {
-	topic := client.Topic(topicID)
-	ok, err := topic.Exists(ctx)
+	// avoid async race conditions by attempting to create first and checking error
+	// rather than checking for existence, then later creating
+	topic, err := client.CreateTopic(ctx, topicID)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to check if topic exists: %w", err)
-	}
-	if !ok {
-		topic, err = client.CreateTopic(ctx, topicID)
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to create topic (%q): %w", topicID, err)
+		st, ok := status.FromError(err)
+		if !ok {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("CreateTopic failed with unknown err: %v", err)
+		}
+		if st.Code() == codes.AlreadyExists {
+			topic = client.Topic(topicID)
+		} else {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("CreateTopic: %v", err)
 		}
 	}
 	return topic, nil
@@ -1174,23 +1177,20 @@ func TestCreateSubscriptionWithSMT(t *testing.T) {
 	client := setup(t)
 
 	smtSubID := subID + "-smt"
+	smtTopicID := topicID + "-smt"
 	var topic *pubsub.Topic
-	var err error
+
 	testutil.Retry(t, 10, time.Second, func(r *testutil.R) {
-		topic, err = client.CreateTopic(ctx, topicID)
+		var err error
+		// use = to set topic in outer scope
+		topic, err = getOrCreateTopic(ctx, client, smtTopicID)
 		if err != nil {
-			st, ok := status.FromError(err)
-			if !ok {
-				r.Errorf("CreateTopic failed with unknown err: %v", err)
-			}
-			// Don't return error if topic already exists, just use that for the test.
-			if st.Code() != codes.AlreadyExists {
-				r.Errorf("CreateTopic: %v", err)
-			}
+			r.Errorf("getOrCreateTopic: %v", err)
+			return
 		}
-	})
+		defer topic.Delete(ctx)
+		defer topic.Stop()
 
-	testutil.Retry(t, 10, time.Second, func(r *testutil.R) {
 		buf := new(bytes.Buffer)
 		if err := createSubscriptionWithSMT(buf, tc.ProjectID, smtSubID, topic); err != nil {
 			r.Errorf("failed to create subscription with SMT: %v", err)