diff --git a/tests/commanddata/test4.log b/tests/commanddata/test4.log
index 24a37a7e96..4fd40cc474 100644
--- a/tests/commanddata/test4.log
+++ b/tests/commanddata/test4.log
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+ARG:--check-daemonize
 ENV:DISPLAY=:0.0
 ENV:HOME=/home/test
 ENV:HOSTNAME=test
diff --git a/tests/commandhelper.c b/tests/commandhelper.c
index 4266e11902..b366483771 100644
--- a/tests/commandhelper.c
+++ b/tests/commandhelper.c
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
     char *buffers[3] = {NULL, NULL, NULL};
     size_t buflen[3] = {0, 0, 0};
     char c;
+    bool daemonize_check = false;
+    size_t daemonize_retries = 3;
 
     if (!log)
         return ret;
@@ -83,6 +85,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             sscanf(argv[i], "%u%c", &readfds[numreadfds++], &c) != 1) {
             printf("Could not parse fd %s\n", argv[i]);
             goto cleanup;
+        } else if (STREQ(argv[i], "--check-daemonize")) {
+            daemonize_check = true;
         }
     }
 
@@ -126,7 +130,18 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv) {
             fprintf(log, "FD:%zu\n", i);
     }
 
-    fprintf(log, "DAEMON:%s\n", getpgrp() != getppid() ? "yes" : "no");
+    while (true) {
+        bool daemonized = getpgrp() != getppid();
+
+        if (daemonize_check && !daemonized && daemonize_retries-- > 0) {
+            usleep(100*1000);
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        fprintf(log, "DAEMON:%s\n", daemonized ? "yes" : "no");
+        break;
+    }
+
     if (!(cwd = getcwd(NULL, 0)))
         goto cleanup;
     if (strlen(cwd) > strlen(".../commanddata") &&
diff --git a/tests/commandtest.c b/tests/commandtest.c
index f0e60ee5fe..9bef825239 100644
--- a/tests/commandtest.c
+++ b/tests/commandtest.c
@@ -255,7 +255,8 @@ static int test3(const void *unused G_GNUC_UNUSED)
  */
 static int test4(const void *unused G_GNUC_UNUSED)
 {
-    virCommandPtr cmd = virCommandNew(abs_builddir "/commandhelper");
+    virCommandPtr cmd = virCommandNewArgList(abs_builddir "/commandhelper",
+                                             "--check-daemonize", NULL);
     char *pidfile = virPidFileBuildPath(abs_builddir, "commandhelper");
     pid_t pid;
     int ret = -1;