diff --git a/tests/fixtures/config/early-failure/git/common-config/zuul.yaml b/tests/fixtures/config/early-failure/git/common-config/zuul.yaml
index 2d1790d4fc..d6ea50a7dd 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/config/early-failure/git/common-config/zuul.yaml
+++ b/tests/fixtures/config/early-failure/git/common-config/zuul.yaml
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@
 
 - job:
     name: pre-failure
+    # Set attempts to a value less than the default of three but greater
+    # than 1 which results in no retries. This ensures testing covers code
+    # paths for retries without extra unnecesasry retries which make the
+    # tests run longer.
+    attempts: 2
     files:
       - pre-failure.txt
     pre-run:
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_v3.py b/tests/unit/test_v3.py
index bb398f75f6..aeb56185ec 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_v3.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_v3.py
@@ -6281,7 +6281,7 @@ class TestEarlyFailure(AnsibleZuulTestCase):
 
         self.log.debug("Wait for all jobs to finish")
         for _ in iterate_timeout(30, 'all jobs finished'):
-            if len(self.builds) == 1 and len(self.history) == 4:
+            if len(self.builds) == 1 and len(self.history) == 3:
                 break
             for b in self.builds[:]:
                 if b.name == 'pre-failure':
@@ -6320,7 +6320,6 @@ class TestEarlyFailure(AnsibleZuulTestCase):
         self.waitUntilSettled()
 
         self.assertHistory([
-            dict(name='pre-failure', result=None, changes='1,1'),
             dict(name='pre-failure', result=None, changes='1,1'),
             dict(name='pre-failure', result=None, changes='1,1'),
             dict(name='wait', result='ABORTED', changes='1,1 2,1'),