diff --git a/instrumentation/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-transport-5.3/javaagent/src/test/groovy/springdata/Elasticsearch53SpringTemplateTest.groovy b/instrumentation/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-transport-5.3/javaagent/src/test/groovy/springdata/Elasticsearch53SpringTemplateTest.groovy
index 3f9ae07bea..faf1dd3124 100644
--- a/instrumentation/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-transport-5.3/javaagent/src/test/groovy/springdata/Elasticsearch53SpringTemplateTest.groovy
+++ b/instrumentation/elasticsearch/elasticsearch-transport-5.3/javaagent/src/test/groovy/springdata/Elasticsearch53SpringTemplateTest.groovy
@@ -18,12 +18,14 @@ import org.elasticsearch.node.Node
 import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.bucket.nested.InternalNested
 import org.elasticsearch.search.aggregations.bucket.terms.Terms
 import org.elasticsearch.transport.Netty3Plugin
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assumptions
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.ElasticsearchTemplate
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.ResultsExtractor
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.query.IndexQueryBuilder
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.query.NativeSearchQuery
 import org.springframework.data.elasticsearch.core.query.NativeSearchQueryBuilder
 import spock.lang.Shared
+import spock.util.environment.Jvm
 
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicLong
 
@@ -45,7 +47,6 @@ class Elasticsearch53SpringTemplateTest extends AgentInstrumentationSpecificatio
   ElasticsearchTemplate template
 
   def setupSpec() {
-
     esWorkingDir = File.createTempDir("test-es-working-dir-", "")
     esWorkingDir.deleteOnExit()
     println "ES work dir: $esWorkingDir"
@@ -81,6 +82,11 @@ class Elasticsearch53SpringTemplateTest extends AgentInstrumentationSpecificatio
     }
   }
 
+  def setup() {
+    // when running on jdk 21 this test occasionally fails with timeout
+    Assumptions.assumeTrue(Boolean.getBoolean("testLatestDeps") || !Jvm.getCurrent().isJava21Compatible())
+  }
+
   def "test elasticsearch error"() {
     when:
     template.refresh(indexName)