diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/latestDepTest/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/latestDepTest/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
index 493e1af0967..474f1fe7ed5 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/latestDepTest/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/latestDepTest/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
@@ -138,9 +138,21 @@ abstract class KafkaClientTestBase extends VersionedNamingTestBase {
     TEST_WRITER.setFilter(dropEmptyKafkaPoll)
     KafkaProducer<String, String> producer = new KafkaProducer<>(producerProps, new StringSerializer(), new StringSerializer())
     String clusterId = null
-    while (clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) {
+    def maxAttempts = 20  // 30 seconds total
+    def attemptCount = 0
+    
+    while ((clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) && attemptCount < maxAttempts) {
       Thread.sleep(1500)
-      clusterId = producer.metadata.fetch().clusterResource().clusterId()
+      try {
+        clusterId = producer.metadata.fetch().clusterResource().clusterId()
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        // Log and continue - metadata might not be ready yet
+      }
+      attemptCount++
+    }
+    
+    if (clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Failed to obtain cluster ID after ${maxAttempts * 1.5} seconds")
     }
 
     // set up the Kafka consumer properties
@@ -194,7 +206,21 @@ abstract class KafkaClientTestBase extends VersionedNamingTestBase {
 
     then:
     // check that the message was received
-    def received = records.poll(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    def received = null
+    def maxPollingAttempts = 3
+    def pollingTimeout = 10  // seconds
+    
+    for (int i = 0; i < maxPollingAttempts && received == null; i++) {
+      received = records.poll(pollingTimeout, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+      if (received == null && i < maxPollingAttempts - 1) {
+        Thread.sleep(1000)  // Brief pause between retries
+      }
+    }
+    
+    if (received == null) {
+      throw new AssertionError("No message received after ${maxPollingAttempts * pollingTimeout} seconds")
+    }
+    
     received.value() == greeting
     received.key() == null
 
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
index 569538197d4..1cbab1ef763 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
@@ -187,9 +187,21 @@ abstract class KafkaClientTestBase extends VersionedNamingTestBase {
     if (isDataStreamsEnabled()) {
       producer.flush()
       clusterId = producer.metadata.cluster.clusterResource().clusterId()
-      while (clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) {
+      def maxAttempts = 20  // 30 seconds total
+      def attemptCount = 0
+      
+      while ((clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) && attemptCount < maxAttempts) {
         Thread.sleep(1500)
-        clusterId = producer.metadata.cluster.clusterResource().clusterId()
+        try {
+          clusterId = producer.metadata.cluster.clusterResource().clusterId()
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+          // Log and continue - metadata might not be ready yet
+        }
+        attemptCount++
+      }
+      
+      if (clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) {
+        throw new RuntimeException("Failed to obtain cluster ID after ${maxAttempts * 1.5} seconds")
       }
     }
 
@@ -244,7 +256,21 @@ abstract class KafkaClientTestBase extends VersionedNamingTestBase {
 
     then:
     // check that the message was received
-    def received = records.poll(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    def received = null
+    def maxPollingAttempts = 3
+    def pollingTimeout = 10  // seconds
+    
+    for (int i = 0; i < maxPollingAttempts && received == null; i++) {
+      received = records.poll(pollingTimeout, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+      if (received == null && i < maxPollingAttempts - 1) {
+        Thread.sleep(1000)  // Brief pause between retries
+      }
+    }
+    
+    if (received == null) {
+      throw new AssertionError("No message received after ${maxPollingAttempts * pollingTimeout} seconds")
+    }
+    
     received.value() == greeting
     received.key() == null
 
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
index 9e71a218b7a..9ba2707c85a 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-clients-3.8/src/test/groovy/KafkaClientTestBase.groovy
@@ -167,9 +167,21 @@ abstract class KafkaClientTestBase extends VersionedNamingTestBase {
     TEST_WRITER.setFilter(dropEmptyKafkaPoll)
     KafkaProducer<String, String> producer = new KafkaProducer<>(producerProps, new StringSerializer(), new StringSerializer())
     String clusterId = null
-    while (clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) {
+    def maxAttempts = 20  // 30 seconds total
+    def attemptCount = 0
+    
+    while ((clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) && attemptCount < maxAttempts) {
       Thread.sleep(1500)
-      clusterId = producer.metadata.fetch().clusterResource().clusterId()
+      try {
+        clusterId = producer.metadata.fetch().clusterResource().clusterId()
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        // Log and continue - metadata might not be ready yet
+      }
+      attemptCount++
+    }
+    
+    if (clusterId == null || clusterId.isEmpty()) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("Failed to obtain cluster ID after ${maxAttempts * 1.5} seconds")
     }
 
     // set up the Kafka consumer properties
@@ -224,7 +236,21 @@ abstract class KafkaClientTestBase extends VersionedNamingTestBase {
 
     then:
     //    // check that the message was received
-    def received = records.poll(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+    def received = null
+    def maxPollingAttempts = 3
+    def pollingTimeout = 10  // seconds
+    
+    for (int i = 0; i < maxPollingAttempts && received == null; i++) {
+      received = records.poll(pollingTimeout, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
+      if (received == null && i < maxPollingAttempts - 1) {
+        Thread.sleep(1000)  // Brief pause between retries
+      }
+    }
+    
+    if (received == null) {
+      throw new AssertionError("No message received after ${maxPollingAttempts * pollingTimeout} seconds")
+    }
+    
     received.value() == greeting
     received.key() == null
     int nTraces = isDataStreamsEnabled() ? 3 : 2