diff --git a/tests/framework/microvm.py b/tests/framework/microvm.py
index ff79c8f2f00..7a0b57cf610 100644
--- a/tests/framework/microvm.py
+++ b/tests/framework/microvm.py
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
 import select
 import shutil
 import signal
-import subprocess
 import time
 import uuid
 from collections import namedtuple
@@ -1003,26 +1002,19 @@ def thread_backtraces(self):
                 )
         return "\n".join(backtraces)
 
-    def wait_for_ssh_up(self, timeout=10):
-        """Wait for guest running inside the microVM to come up and respond.
-
-        :param timeout: seconds to wait.
-        """
+    def wait_for_ssh_up(self):
+        """Wait for guest running inside the microVM to come up and respond."""
         try:
-            rc, stdout, stderr = self.ssh.run("true", timeout)
-        except subprocess.TimeoutExpired:
+            # Ensure that we have an initialized SSH connection to the guest that can
+            # run commands. The actual connection retry loop happens in SSHConnection._init_connection
+            self.ssh_iface(0)
+        except Exception as exc:
             print(
-                f"Remote command did not respond within {timeout}s\n\n"
+                f"Failed to establish SSH connection to guest: {exc}\n\n"
                 f"Firecracker logs:\n{self.log_data}\n"
                 f"Thread backtraces:\n{self.thread_backtraces}"
             )
             raise
-        assert rc == 0, (
-            f"Remote command exited with non-0 status code\n\n"
-            f"{rc=}\n{stdout=}\n{stderr=}\n\n"
-            f"Firecracker logs:\n{self.log_data}\n"
-            f"Thread backtraces:\n{self.thread_backtraces}"
-        )
 
 
 class MicroVMFactory:
diff --git a/tests/host_tools/network.py b/tests/host_tools/network.py
index ade81738626..316fdec5424 100644
--- a/tests/host_tools/network.py
+++ b/tests/host_tools/network.py
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ def scp_get(self, remote_path, local_path, recursive=False):
 
     @retry(
         retry=retry_if_exception_type(ChildProcessError),
-        wait=wait_fixed(0.15),
+        wait=wait_fixed(0.5),
         stop=stop_after_attempt(20),
         reraise=True,
     )
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ def _init_connection(self):
         We'll keep trying to execute a remote command that can't fail
         (`/bin/true`), until we get a successful (0) exit code.
         """
-        self.check_output("true")
+        self.check_output("true", timeout=10)
 
     def run(self, cmd_string, timeout=None, *, check=False):
         """Execute the command passed as a string in the ssh context."""
diff --git a/tests/integration_tests/functional/test_pause_resume.py b/tests/integration_tests/functional/test_pause_resume.py
index c6dfba2cb0f..4210e3a0d7f 100644
--- a/tests/integration_tests/functional/test_pause_resume.py
+++ b/tests/integration_tests/functional/test_pause_resume.py
@@ -49,16 +49,16 @@ def test_pause_resume(uvm_nano):
     microvm.flush_metrics()
 
     # Verify guest is no longer active.
-    with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-        microvm.wait_for_ssh_up()
+    with pytest.raises(ChildProcessError):
+        microvm.ssh.check_output("true")
 
     # Verify emulation was indeed paused and no events from either
     # guest or host side were handled.
     verify_net_emulation_paused(microvm.flush_metrics())
 
     # Verify guest is no longer active.
-    with pytest.raises(AssertionError):
-        microvm.wait_for_ssh_up()
+    with pytest.raises(ChildProcessError):
+        microvm.ssh.check_output("true")
 
     # Pausing the microVM when it is already `Paused` is allowed
     # (microVM remains in `Paused` state).