diff --git a/t/lib/bash/collect.sh b/t/lib/bash/collect.sh
index b7e4fe88..f9f976fd 100644
--- a/t/lib/bash/collect.sh
+++ b/t/lib/bash/collect.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ p="$PT_TMPDIR/collect/2011_12_05"
 # Default collect, no extras like gdb, tcpdump, etc.
 collect "$PT_TMPDIR/collect" "2011_12_05" > $p-output 2>&1
 
+wait_for_files "$p-hostname" "$p-opentables2" "$p-variables"
+
 # Even if this system doesn't have all the cmds, collect should still
 # have created some files for cmds that (hopefully) all systems have.
 ls -1 $PT_TMPDIR/collect | sort > $PT_TMPDIR/collect-files
diff --git a/t/lib/bash/report_mysql_info.sh b/t/lib/bash/report_mysql_info.sh
index e3c260f2..ee87dd0c 100644
--- a/t/lib/bash/report_mysql_info.sh
+++ b/t/lib/bash/report_mysql_info.sh
@@ -107,8 +107,8 @@ cat <<EOF > $PT_TMPDIR/expected
 EOF
 
 summarize_processlist "$samples/processlist-001.txt" > "$PT_TMPDIR/got"
-no_diff "$PT_TMPDIR/got" "$PT_TMPDIR/expected" "summarize_processlist"
-
+no_diff "$PT_TMPDIR/got" "$PT_TMPDIR/expected" "summarize_processlist" \
+   || cat "$PT_TMPDIR/got" "$PT_TMPDIR/expected" >&2
 
 # ###########################################################################
 # summarize_binlogs
@@ -548,7 +548,8 @@ Mutexes/Locks Waited For
 EOF
 
 format_innodb_status $samples/innodb-status.001.txt > $PT_TMPDIR/got
-no_diff $PT_TMPDIR/got $PT_TMPDIR/expected "innodb-status.001.txt"
+no_diff $PT_TMPDIR/got $PT_TMPDIR/expected "innodb-status.001.txt" \
+   || cat "$PT_TMPDIR/got" "$PT_TMPDIR/expected" >&2
 
 cat <<'EOF' > $PT_TMPDIR/expected
       Checkpoint Age | 348M
@@ -600,7 +601,8 @@ Tables Locked
 EOF
 
 format_innodb_status $samples/innodb-status.003.txt > $PT_TMPDIR/got
-no_diff $PT_TMPDIR/got $PT_TMPDIR/expected "innodb-status.003.txt"
+no_diff $PT_TMPDIR/got $PT_TMPDIR/expected "innodb-status.003.txt" \
+   || cat "$PT_TMPDIR/got" "$PT_TMPDIR/expected" >&2
 
 cat <<'EOF' > $PT_TMPDIR/expected
       Checkpoint Age | 93M
@@ -628,7 +630,8 @@ Mutexes/Locks Waited For
 EOF
 
 format_innodb_status $samples/innodb-status.004.txt > $PT_TMPDIR/got
-no_diff $PT_TMPDIR/got $PT_TMPDIR/expected "innodb-status.004.txt" 
+no_diff $PT_TMPDIR/got $PT_TMPDIR/expected "innodb-status.004.txt" \
+   || cat "$PT_TMPDIR/got" "$PT_TMPDIR/expected" >&2
 
 # ###########################################################################
 # section_innodb
diff --git a/util/test-bash-functions b/util/test-bash-functions
index 0e715522..133aab74 100755
--- a/util/test-bash-functions
+++ b/util/test-bash-functions
@@ -198,6 +198,19 @@ dies_ok() {
    result $result "$test_name"
 }
 
+# Helper subs for slow boxes
+
+wait_for_files() {
+   for file in "$@"; do
+      local slept=0
+      while ! [ -f $file ]; do
+         sleep 0.1;
+         slept=$((slept + 1))
+         [ $slept -ge 50 ] && break  # 5s
+      done
+   done
+}
+
 # ############################################################################
 # Script starts here
 # ############################################################################