diff --git a/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures/executor.py b/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures/executor.py
index 3049bb74861439..3d1372a6428ec0 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures/executor.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_concurrent_futures/executor.py
@@ -128,4 +128,7 @@ def test_free_reference(self):
             wr = weakref.ref(obj)
             del obj
             support.gc_collect()  # For PyPy or other GCs.
-            self.assertIsNone(wr())
+
+            for _ in support.sleeping_retry(support.SHORT_TIMEOUT):
+                if wr() is None:
+                    break