diff --git a/packages/google-cloud-spanner/tests/unit/_async/test_session.py b/packages/google-cloud-spanner/tests/unit/_async/test_session.py
index d969febfdef2..9902c89c4c40 100644
--- a/packages/google-cloud-spanner/tests/unit/_async/test_session.py
+++ b/packages/google-cloud-spanner/tests/unit/_async/test_session.py
@@ -1802,7 +1802,9 @@ async def unit_of_work(txn, *args, **kw):
 
         # retry once w/ timeout_secs=1
         def _time(_results=[1, 1.5]):
-            return _results.pop(0)
+            if len(_results) > 1:
+                return _results.pop(0)
+            return _results[0]
 
         with mock.patch("time.time", _time):
             with mock.patch(