diff --git a/cmd/boulder-janitor/job.go b/cmd/boulder-janitor/job.go
index a20622c5b..6825f4659 100644
--- a/cmd/boulder-janitor/job.go
+++ b/cmd/boulder-janitor/job.go
@@ -31,11 +31,11 @@ var (
 			Help: "Number of deletions by table the boulder-janitor has performed.",
 		},
 		[]string{"table"})
-	// workStat is a prometheus gauge vector tracking the number of rows found
+	// workStat is a prometheus counter vector tracking the number of rows found
 	// during a batchedJob's getWork stage and queued into the work channel sliced
 	// by a table label.
-	workStat = prometheus.NewGaugeVec(
-		prometheus.GaugeOpts{
+	workStat = prometheus.NewCounterVec(
+		prometheus.CounterOpts{
 			Name: "janitor_workbatch",
 			Help: "Number of items of work by table the boulder-janitor queued for deletion.",
 		},
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ func (j batchedDBJob) getWork(work chan<- int64, startID int64) (int64, error) {
 		rows++
 		lastID = v.ID
 	}
-	workStat.WithLabelValues(j.table).Set(float64(rows))
+	workStat.WithLabelValues(j.table).Add(float64(rows))
 	return lastID, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/boulder-janitor/job_test.go b/cmd/boulder-janitor/job_test.go
index b4834f341..6ba0bb955 100644
--- a/cmd/boulder-janitor/job_test.go
+++ b/cmd/boulder-janitor/job_test.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/jmhodges/clock"
 	blog "github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/log"
 	"github.com/letsencrypt/boulder/test"
-	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 )
 
 func setup() (*blog.Mock, clock.FakeClock) {
@@ -122,8 +121,7 @@ func TestGetWork(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	// We expect the work gauge for this table has been updated
-	workCount, err := test.GaugeValueWithLabels(workStat, prometheus.Labels{"table": table})
-	test.AssertNotError(t, err, "unexpected error from GaugeValueWithLabels")
+	workCount := test.CountCounterVec("table", table, workStat)
 	test.AssertEquals(t, workCount, len(mockIDs))
 
 	// Set the third item in mockIDs to have an expiry after the purge cutoff
@@ -140,8 +138,7 @@ func TestGetWork(t *testing.T) {
 		got := <-workChan
 		test.AssertEquals(t, got, mockIDs[i].ID)
 	}
-	workCount, err = test.GaugeValueWithLabels(workStat, prometheus.Labels{"table": table})
-	test.AssertNotError(t, err, "unexpected error from GaugeValueWithLabels")
+	workCount = test.CountCounterVec("table", table, workStat)
 	test.AssertEquals(t, workCount, 2)
 }
 
diff --git a/test/integration-test.py b/test/integration-test.py
index 30b72fc45..47d2674a5 100644
--- a/test/integration-test.py
+++ b/test/integration-test.py
@@ -123,32 +123,31 @@ def run_janitor():
             raise Exception("stat line {0} was missing required parts".format(line))
         return parts[1]
 
-    # Wait for the janitor to report it isn't finding new work
-    print("waiting for boulder-janitor work to complete...\n")
-    workDone = False
-    for i in range(10):
-        certStatusWorkbatch = get_stat_line(8014, statline("workbatch", "certificateStatus"))
+    # Wait for the janitor to finish its work. The easiest way to tell this
+    # externally is to watch for the work batch counters to stabilize for
+    # a period longer than the configured workSleep.
+    attempts = 0
+    while True:
+        if attempts > 5:
+            raise Exception("timed out waiting for janitor workbatch counts to stabilize")
+
+        certStatusWorkBatch = get_stat_line(8014, statline("workbatch", "certificateStatus"))
         certsWorkBatch = get_stat_line(8014, statline("workbatch", "certificates"))
         certsPerNameWorkBatch = get_stat_line(8014, statline("workbatch", "certificatesPerName"))
-        if not certStatusWorkbatch or not certsWorkBatch or not certsPerNameWorkBatch:
-            print("not done after check {0}. Sleeping".format(i))
-            time.sleep(2)
-            continue
 
-        allReady = True
-        for line in [certStatusWorkbatch, certsWorkBatch, certsPerNameWorkBatch]:
-            if stat_value(line) != "0":
-                allReady = False
+        # sleep for double the configured workSleep for each job
+        time.sleep(1)
 
-        if allReady is False:
-            print("not done after check {0}. Sleeping".format(i))
-            time.sleep(2)
-        else:
-            workDone = True
+        newCertStatusWorkBatch = get_stat_line(8014, statline("workbatch", "certificateStatus"))
+        newCertsWorkBatch = get_stat_line(8014, statline("workbatch", "certificates"))
+        newCertsPerNameWorkBatch = get_stat_line(8014, statline("workbatch", "certificatesPerName"))
+
+        if (certStatusWorkBatch == newCertStatusWorkBatch 
+            and certsWorkBatch == newCertsWorkBatch 
+            and certsPerNameWorkBatch == newCertsPerNameWorkBatch):
             break
 
-    if workDone is False:
-        raise Exception("Timed out waiting for janitor to report all work completed\n")
+        attempts = attempts + 1
 
     # Check deletion stats are not empty/zero
     for i in range(10):