diff --git a/controllers/opentelemetrycollector_controller.go b/controllers/opentelemetrycollector_controller.go
index 9f6d063f8b..b447c193a9 100644
--- a/controllers/opentelemetrycollector_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/opentelemetrycollector_controller.go
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ func (r *OpenTelemetryCollectorReconciler) findOtelOwnedObjects(ctx context.Cont
 		default:
 		}
 	}
-
 	// at this point we don't know if the most recent ConfigMap will still be the most recent after reconciliation, or
 	// if a new one will be created. We keep one additional ConfigMap to account for this. The next reconciliation that
 	// doesn't spawn a new ConfigMap will delete the extra one we kept here.
diff --git a/controllers/reconcile_test.go b/controllers/reconcile_test.go
index b944d094bf..d110edb6dc 100644
--- a/controllers/reconcile_test.go
+++ b/controllers/reconcile_test.go
@@ -978,7 +978,8 @@ func TestOpenTelemetryCollectorReconciler_VersionedConfigMaps(t *testing.T) {
 
 	assert.EventuallyWithT(t, func(collect *assert.CollectT) {
 		configMaps := &v1.ConfigMapList{}
-		listErr := k8sClient.List(clientCtx, configMaps, opts...)
+		// use the reconciler client here to ensure it sees the new ConfigMap, before running the next reconciliation
+		listErr := reconciler.Client.List(clientCtx, configMaps, opts...)
 		assert.NoError(collect, listErr)
 		assert.NotEmpty(collect, configMaps)
 		assert.Len(collect, configMaps.Items, 4)
@@ -992,8 +993,12 @@ func TestOpenTelemetryCollectorReconciler_VersionedConfigMaps(t *testing.T) {
 		listErr := k8sClient.List(clientCtx, configMaps, opts...)
 		assert.NoError(collect, listErr)
 		assert.NotEmpty(collect, configMaps)
-		assert.Len(collect, configMaps.Items, 3)
-	}, time.Second*5, time.Millisecond)
+		// actual deletion can happen with a delay in a K8s cluster, check the timestamp instead to speed things up
+		items := slices.DeleteFunc(configMaps.Items, func(item v1.ConfigMap) bool {
+			return item.DeletionTimestamp != nil
+		})
+		assert.Len(collect, items, 3)
+	}, time.Second*30, time.Second) // not sure why this can take so long to bubble up
 }
 
 func TestOpAMPBridgeReconciler_Reconcile(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/controllers/suite_test.go b/controllers/suite_test.go
index c32b101280..fa7329b9f3 100644
--- a/controllers/suite_test.go
+++ b/controllers/suite_test.go
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ import (
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/envtest"
 	logf "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log/zap"
 	metricsserver "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/metrics/server"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/webhook"
 	"sigs.k8s.io/yaml"
@@ -139,6 +140,9 @@ func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	ctx, cancel = context.WithCancel(context.TODO())
 	defer cancel()
 
+	// logging is useful for these tests
+	logf.SetLogger(zap.New())
+
 	// +kubebuilder:scaffold:scheme
 	utilruntime.Must(monitoringv1.AddToScheme(testScheme))
 	utilruntime.Must(networkingv1.AddToScheme(testScheme))