diff --git a/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.cc b/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.cc
index e65373e24bfd..07c38954d99d 100644
--- a/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.cc
+++ b/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.cc
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 #include "yb/common/common.pb.h"
 #include "yb/common/pgsql_error.h"
+#include "yb/util/backoff_waiter.h"
 #include "yb/util/monotime.h"
 #include "yb/util/size_literals.h"
 #include "yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_utils.h"
@@ -90,22 +91,44 @@ Result<PgOid> GetDatabaseOid(PGConn* conn, const std::string& db_name) {
       Format("SELECT oid FROM pg_database WHERE datname = '$0'", db_name));
 }
 
-Status LibPqTestBase::BumpCatalogVersion(int num_versions, PGConn* conn,
+// Bump catalog version num_bumps times using conn.  After each bump, wait for the new catalog
+// version to propagate to conn in order to avoid catalog version mismatch errors.
+// Prerequisites:
+// - conn should not be in the middle of a transaction
+// - there should be no other concurrent catalog version bumps
+Status LibPqTestBase::BumpCatalogVersion(int num_bumps, PGConn* conn,
                                          const std::string& alter_value) {
-  LOG(INFO) << "Do " << num_versions << " breaking catalog version bumps";
+  const auto query = "SELECT catalog_version FROM pg_stat_activity WHERE pid = pg_backend_pid()";
+  auto initial_catalog_version = VERIFY_RESULT(conn->FetchRow<int64_t>(query));
+  LOG(INFO) << "Do " << num_bumps << " breaking catalog version bumps starting at "
+            << initial_catalog_version;
   if (alter_value.empty()) {
-    for (int i = 0; i < num_versions; ++i) {
+    for (int i = 1; i <= num_bumps; ++i) {
       RETURN_NOT_OK(IncrementAllDBCatalogVersions(
           *conn, IsBreakingCatalogVersionChange::kTrue /* is_breaking */));
-      // Here we call increment_all_db_catalog_versions to bump the catalog version.
-      // Add a sleep for the new catalog version to propagate to avoid catalog version
-      // mismatch error when we have back-to-back calls to increment_all_db_catalog_versions.
-      SleepFor(2s);
+      auto target_catalog_version = initial_catalog_version + i;
+      RETURN_NOT_OK(LoggedWaitFor(
+          [conn, target_catalog_version, &query]() -> Result<bool> {
+            auto current_catalog_version = VERIFY_RESULT(conn->FetchRow<int64_t>(query));
+            if (current_catalog_version == target_catalog_version) {
+              return true;
+            }
+            if (current_catalog_version < target_catalog_version) {
+              return false;
+            }
+            return STATUS_FORMAT(
+                IllegalState,
+                "unexpected catalog version $0 > target $1:"
+                " does the test do concurrent DDLs without synchronization?",
+                current_catalog_version, target_catalog_version);
+          },
+          10s,
+          Format("wait for catalog version $0 to propagate", target_catalog_version)));
     }
     return Status::OK();
   }
-  // Some tests cannot tolerate the added sleep if using increment_all_db_catalog_versions.
-  SCHECK_EQ(num_versions, 1, InvalidArgument, "cannot bump more than one version with alter_value");
+  // Some tests cannot tolerate the added wait if using increment_all_db_catalog_versions.
+  SCHECK_EQ(num_bumps, 1, InvalidArgument, "cannot bump more than one version with alter_value");
   return conn->ExecuteFormat("ALTER ROLE yugabyte $0", alter_value);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.h b/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.h
index b2e7d2fe202c..0dc5d6a93ff7 100644
--- a/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.h
+++ b/src/yb/yql/pgwrapper/libpq_test_base.h
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class LibPqTestBase : public PgWrapperTestBase {
   Result<PGConn> ConnectToDBWithReplication(const std::string& db_name);
   void SerializableColoringHelper(int min_duration_seconds = 0);
   static bool TransactionalFailure(const Status& status);
-  static Status BumpCatalogVersion(int num_versions, PGConn* conn,
+  static Status BumpCatalogVersion(int num_bumps, PGConn* conn,
                                    const std::string& alter_value = "");
   static void UpdateMiniClusterFailOnConflict(ExternalMiniClusterOptions* options);
 };