diff --git a/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go b/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go
index 00949657e79..15ba010ff94 100644
--- a/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kv/cosmosdb/main_test.go
@@ -26,11 +26,11 @@ var (
 )
 
 func TestCosmosDB(t *testing.T) {
-	kvtest.DriverTest(t, func(t testing.TB, ctx context.Context) kv.Store {
-		if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" {
-			t.Skipf("this test hangs for macOS users, and fails. skipping - see Issue#8476 for more details")
-		}
+	if runtime.GOOS == "darwin" {
+		t.Skipf("this test hangs for macOS users, and fails. skipping - see Issue#8476 for more details")
+	}
 
+	kvtest.DriverTest(t, func(t testing.TB, ctx context.Context) kv.Store {
 		t.Helper()
 
 		databaseClient, err := client.NewDatabase(testParams.Database)
diff --git a/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go b/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go
index e481932e50c..5e886f2d62d 100644
--- a/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go
+++ b/pkg/testutil/cosmosdb.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 
 const (
 	CosmosDBLocalPort = "8081"
-	maxWait           = 5 * time.Minute // Cosmosdb emulator takes time to start
+	maxWait           = 7 * time.Minute // Cosmosdb emulator takes time to start
 )
 
 var cosmosdbLocalURI string
@@ -59,6 +59,13 @@ func GetCosmosDBInstance() (string, func(), error) {
 		return "", nil, fmt.Errorf("joining urls: %w", err)
 	}
 
+	client := http.Client{
+		Transport: &http.Transport{
+			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true}, //nolint:gosec // ignore self-signed cert for local testing using the emulator
+		},
+		Timeout: 5 * time.Second,
+	}
+
 	dockerPool.MaxWait = maxWait
 	log.Printf("Waiting up to %v for emulator to start", dockerPool.MaxWait)
 	// Note: this hangs for macOS users, and fails. See https://github.com/treeverse/lakeFS/issues/8476
@@ -66,9 +73,6 @@ func GetCosmosDBInstance() (string, func(), error) {
 		// waiting for cosmosdb container to be ready by issuing an HTTP get request with
 		// exponential backoff retry. The response is not really meaningful for that case
 		// and so is ignored
-		client := http.Client{Transport: &http.Transport{
-			TLSClientConfig: &tls.Config{InsecureSkipVerify: true}, //nolint:gosec // ignore self-signed cert for local testing using the emulator
-		}}
 		resp, err := client.Get(p)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err