diff --git a/tests/unit/other.tcl b/tests/unit/other.tcl
index 8eebdc63..702c291f 100644
--- a/tests/unit/other.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/other.tcl
@@ -247,6 +247,7 @@ start_server {tags {"other"}} {
     } {0 0}
 
     test {Perform a final SAVE to leave a clean DB on disk} {
+        waitForBgsave r
         r save
     } {OK}
 }
diff --git a/tests/unit/type/list.tcl b/tests/unit/type/list.tcl
index 8f58cc5f..ff178db4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/type/list.tcl
+++ b/tests/unit/type/list.tcl
@@ -148,8 +148,11 @@ start_server {
     test "BLPOP with variadic LPUSH" {
         set rd [redis_deferring_client]
         r del blist target
+        if {$::valgrind} {after 100}
         $rd blpop blist 0
+        if {$::valgrind} {after 100}
         assert_equal 2 [r lpush blist foo bar]
+        if {$::valgrind} {after 100}
         assert_equal {blist foo} [$rd read]
         assert_equal bar [lindex [r lrange blist 0 -1] 0]
     }