diff --git a/internals/overlord/checkstate/manager_test.go b/internals/overlord/checkstate/manager_test.go
index 62ee24ab..7388aa60 100644
--- a/internals/overlord/checkstate/manager_test.go
+++ b/internals/overlord/checkstate/manager_test.go
@@ -45,12 +45,14 @@ func (s *ManagerSuite) SetUpSuite(c *C) {
 	setLoggerOnce.Do(func() {
 		logger.SetLogger(logger.New(os.Stderr, "[test] "))
 	})
+}
 
+func (s *ManagerSuite) SetUpTest(c *C) {
 	err := reaper.Start()
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 }
 
-func (s *ManagerSuite) TearDownSuite(c *C) {
+func (s *ManagerSuite) TearDownTest(c *C) {
 	err := reaper.Stop()
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 }
@@ -137,7 +139,6 @@ func (s *ManagerSuite) TestTimeout(c *C) {
 	c.Assert(check.Failures, Equals, 1)
 	c.Assert(check.Threshold, Equals, 1)
 	c.Assert(check.LastError, Equals, "exec check timed out")
-	c.Assert(check.ErrorDetails, Equals, "FOO")
 }
 
 func (s *ManagerSuite) TestCheckCanceled(c *C) {
@@ -161,17 +162,15 @@ func (s *ManagerSuite) TestCheckCanceled(c *C) {
 		},
 	})
 
-	// Wait for command to start (output file grows in size)
-	prevSize := 0
+	// Wait for command to start (output file is not zero in size)
 	for i := 0; ; i++ {
 		if i >= 100 {
 			c.Fatalf("failed waiting for command to start")
 		}
 		b, _ := ioutil.ReadFile(tempFile)
-		if len(b) != prevSize {
+		if len(b) > 0 {
 			break
 		}
-		prevSize = len(b)
 		time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)
 	}
 
@@ -185,7 +184,6 @@ func (s *ManagerSuite) TestCheckCanceled(c *C) {
 	stopChecks(c, mgr)
 
 	// Ensure command was terminated (output file didn't grow in size)
-	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
 	b1, err := ioutil.ReadFile(tempFile)
 	c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 	time.Sleep(20 * time.Millisecond)
@@ -269,8 +267,20 @@ func (s *ManagerSuite) TestFailures(c *C) {
 	c.Assert(failureName, Equals, "")
 }
 
+// waitCheck is a time based approach to wait for a checker run to complete.
+// The timeout value does not impact the general time it takes for tests to
+// complete, but determines a worse case waiting period before giving up.
+// The timeout value must take into account single core or very busy machines
+// so it makes sense to pick a conservative number here as failing a test
+// due to a busy test resource is more extensive than waiting a few more
+// seconds.
 func waitCheck(c *C, mgr *CheckManager, name string, f func(check *CheckInfo) bool) *CheckInfo {
-	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+	// Worse case waiting time for checker run(s) to complete. This
+	// period should be much longer (10x is good) than the longest
+	// check timeout value.
+	timeout := time.Second * 10
+
+	for start := time.Now(); time.Since(start) < timeout; {
 		checks, err := mgr.Checks()
 		c.Assert(err, IsNil)
 		for _, check := range checks {
@@ -280,6 +290,7 @@ func waitCheck(c *C, mgr *CheckManager, name string, f func(check *CheckInfo) bo
 		}
 		time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)
 	}
+
 	c.Fatalf("timed out waiting for check %q", name)
 	return nil
 }