diff --git a/testsuite/expect/test17.34 b/testsuite/expect/test17.34
index 9b20c8cc4a6ce5bc9fd0e494f8fdf8d61d8ef603..d2f52f66344ff9665cf3b2901766456e65224eed 100755
--- a/testsuite/expect/test17.34
+++ b/testsuite/expect/test17.34
@@ -95,6 +95,10 @@ proc core_spec_job {task node core_spec exp_nodes} {
 
 	} else {
 		set core_chk 0
+		if {[wait_for_job $job_id "RUNNING"] != 0} {
+			send_user "\nFAILURE: waiting for job to start\n"
+			set exit_code 1
+		}
 		spawn $scontrol show job $job_id
 		expect {
 			-re "NumNodes=($number)" {
@@ -119,7 +123,10 @@ proc core_spec_job {task node core_spec exp_nodes} {
 			set exit_code 1
 		}
 
-		wait_for_job $job_id DONE
+		if {[wait_for_job $job_id "DONE"] != 0} {
+			send_user "\nFAILURE: waiting for job to complete\n"
+			set exit_code 1
+		}
 	}
 
 	if {$exp_nodes == 1} {