diff --git a/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements-dev.txt
index 19730fdd..fcb8eed3 100644
--- a/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ pywin32; sys_platform == 'win32'
 rich
 shortuuid
 tabulate
+tenacity
 tqdm
 typer
 wheel
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 76c4bad5..bf680ece 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from google.cloud import storage as google_storage
 from pytest_cases import fixture, fixture_union
 from shortuuid import uuid
+from tenacity import retry, retry_if_exception_type, stop_after_attempt, wait_fixed
 
 from cloudpathlib import AzureBlobClient, AzureBlobPath, GSClient, GSPath, S3Client, S3Path
 from cloudpathlib.cloudpath import implementation_registry
@@ -282,9 +283,24 @@ def custom_s3_rig(request, monkeypatch, assets_dir):
         # idempotent and our test server on heroku only has ephemeral storage
         # so we need to try to create each time
         try:
-            s3.meta.client.head_bucket(Bucket=drive)
+            #  try a few times to spin up the bucket since the heroku worker needs some time to wake up
+            @retry(
+                stop=stop_after_attempt(5),
+                wait=wait_fixed(2),
+                retry=retry_if_exception_type(botocore.exceptions.ClientError),
+                reraise=True,
+            )
+            def _spin_up_bucket():
+                s3.meta.client.head_bucket(Bucket=drive)
+
+            _spin_up_bucket()
         except botocore.exceptions.ClientError:
-            s3.create_bucket(Bucket=drive)
+            try:
+                s3.create_bucket(Bucket=drive)
+            except botocore.exceptions.ClientError as e:
+                # ok if bucket already exists
+                if e.response["Error"]["Code"] != "BucketAlreadyOwnedByYou":
+                    raise
 
         bucket = s3.Bucket(drive)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_caching.py b/tests/test_caching.py
index 9384aac3..2d0d0a76 100644
--- a/tests/test_caching.py
+++ b/tests/test_caching.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
+from tenacity import retry, retry_if_exception_type, stop_after_attempt, wait_fixed
 
 from cloudpathlib.enums import FileCacheMode
 from cloudpathlib.exceptions import (
@@ -501,11 +502,19 @@ def test_manual_cache_clearing(rig: CloudProviderTestRig):
     del cp
     del client
 
-    gc.collect()  # force gc before asserting
-    sleep(0.5)  # give time to delete
+    # in CI there can be a lag before the cleanup actually happens
+    @retry(
+        retry=retry_if_exception_type(AssertionError),
+        wait=wait_fixed(1),
+        stop=stop_after_attempt(5),
+    )
+    def _resilient_assert():
+        gc.collect()  # force gc before asserting
+
+        assert not local_cache_path.exists()
+        assert not client_cache_folder.exists()
 
-    assert not local_cache_path.exists()
-    assert not client_cache_folder.exists()
+    _resilient_assert()
 
 
 def test_reuse_cache_after_manual_cache_clear(rig: CloudProviderTestRig):