diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/update_objects_spaces.test.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/update_objects_spaces.test.ts
index 42b66792fa4df..e3e0349c2c742 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/update_objects_spaces.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/service/lib/update_objects_spaces.test.ts
@@ -435,13 +435,14 @@ describe('#updateObjectsSpaces', () => {
 
       it('deletes aliases for objects that were removed from specific spaces using "deleteBehavior: exclusive"', async () => {
         const space1 = 'space-to-remove';
-        const space2 = 'other-space';
-        const obj1 = { type: SHAREABLE_OBJ_TYPE, id: 'id-1', spaces: [space2] }; // will not be changed
-        const obj2 = { type: SHAREABLE_OBJ_TYPE, id: 'id-1', spaces: [space1, space2] }; // will be updated
+        const space2 = 'another-space-to-remove';
+        const space3 = 'other-space';
+        const obj1 = { type: SHAREABLE_OBJ_TYPE, id: 'id-1', spaces: [space3] }; // will not be changed
+        const obj2 = { type: SHAREABLE_OBJ_TYPE, id: 'id-1', spaces: [space1, space2, space3] }; // will be updated
         const obj3 = { type: SHAREABLE_OBJ_TYPE, id: 'id-1', spaces: [space1] }; // will be deleted
 
         const objects = [obj1, obj2, obj3];
-        const spacesToRemove = [space1];
+        const spacesToRemove = [space1, space2];
         const params = setup({ objects, spacesToRemove });
         // this test case does not call mget
         mockBulkResults({ error: false }, { error: false }); // result2 for obj2 and obj3
@@ -449,7 +450,7 @@ describe('#updateObjectsSpaces', () => {
         await updateObjectsSpaces(params);
         expect(client.bulk).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
         expectBulkArgs(
-          { action: 'update', object: { ...obj2, namespaces: [space2] } },
+          { action: 'update', object: { ...obj2, namespaces: [space3] } },
           { action: 'delete', object: obj3 }
         );
         expect(mockDeleteLegacyUrlAliases).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
@@ -458,7 +459,7 @@ describe('#updateObjectsSpaces', () => {
           expect.objectContaining({
             type: obj2.type,
             id: obj2.id,
-            namespaces: [space1],
+            namespaces: [space1, space2],
             deleteBehavior: 'inclusive',
           })
         );
diff --git a/x-pack/test/spaces_api_integration/common/suites/update_objects_spaces.ts b/x-pack/test/spaces_api_integration/common/suites/update_objects_spaces.ts
index d2d35c303c512..3b795ae719db8 100644
--- a/x-pack/test/spaces_api_integration/common/suites/update_objects_spaces.ts
+++ b/x-pack/test/spaces_api_integration/common/suites/update_objects_spaces.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ export function updateObjectsSpacesTestSuiteFactory(
         const { objects, spacesToAdd, spacesToRemove } = testCase;
         const apiResponse = response.body as SavedObjectsUpdateObjectsSpacesResponse;
 
+        let hasRefreshed = false;
         for (let i = 0; i < objects.length; i++) {
           const { id, existingNamespaces, expectAliasDifference, failure } = objects[i];
           const object = apiResponse.objects[i];
@@ -96,7 +97,10 @@ export function updateObjectsSpacesTestSuiteFactory(
 
             if (expectAliasDifference !== undefined) {
               // if we deleted an object that had an alias pointing to it, the alias should have been deleted as well
-              await es.indices.refresh({ index: '.kibana' }); // alias deletion uses refresh: false, so we need to manually refresh the index before searching
+              if (!hasRefreshed) {
+                await es.indices.refresh({ index: '.kibana' }); // alias deletion uses refresh: false, so we need to manually refresh the index before searching
+                hasRefreshed = true;
+              }
               const searchResponse = await es.search({
                 index: '.kibana',
                 body: {