diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp b/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp
index f802590942..78b48c34b8 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/test/plugins.ut.cpp
@@ -1092,7 +1092,7 @@ TEST_F(sinsp_with_test_input, plugin_routines) {
 	                     PPM_O_RDWR,
 	                     0);
 	std::this_thread::sleep_for(
-	        std::chrono::nanoseconds(1000));  // wait for a bit to let routine finish
+	        std::chrono::milliseconds(100));  // wait for a bit to let routine finish
 	routines_num = tp->routines_num();
 	ASSERT_EQ(routines_num, 1);
 
@@ -1100,7 +1100,7 @@ TEST_F(sinsp_with_test_input, plugin_routines) {
 	// unsubscribe it on capture close
 	m_inspector.close();
 	std::this_thread::sleep_for(
-	        std::chrono::nanoseconds(100));  // wait for a bit to let routine finish
+	        std::chrono::milliseconds(100));  // wait for a bit to let routine finish
 	routines_num = tp->routines_num();
 	ASSERT_EQ(routines_num, 0);
 }
diff --git a/userspace/libsinsp/test/thread_pool.ut.cpp b/userspace/libsinsp/test/thread_pool.ut.cpp
index 55fc3dd599..261e88f577 100644
--- a/userspace/libsinsp/test/thread_pool.ut.cpp
+++ b/userspace/libsinsp/test/thread_pool.ut.cpp
@@ -48,21 +48,22 @@ TEST_F(sinsp_with_test_input, thread_pool) {
 	std::atomic<int> count = 0;
 	std::atomic<bool> routine_exited = false;
 	r = tp->subscribe([&count, &routine_exited] {
-		if(count >= 1024) {
+		if(count >= 10) {
 			routine_exited = true;
 			return false;
 		}
 		count++;
+		std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(100));
 		return true;
 	});
 	ASSERT_EQ(tp->routines_num(), 1);
 
-	// the routine above keeps increasing a counter, until the counter reaches 1024
+	// the routine above keeps increasing a counter, until the counter reaches 10
 	// we wait for the routine to exit, then we check if it has been unsubscribed
 	while(!routine_exited) {
-		std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(500));
+		std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(1000));
 	}
-	ASSERT_EQ(count, 1024);
+	ASSERT_EQ(count, 10);
 	ASSERT_EQ(tp->routines_num(), 0);
 
 	// all the remaining routines should be unsubscribed when the inspector is closed