diff --git a/test/e2e/apimachinery/BUILD b/test/e2e/apimachinery/BUILD
index c5063f0e80..e47be42555 100644
--- a/test/e2e/apimachinery/BUILD
+++ b/test/e2e/apimachinery/BUILD
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ go_library(
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/discovery:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/dynamic:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/rest:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/util/cert:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/util/keyutil:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/client-go/util/workqueue:go_default_library",
diff --git a/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go b/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go
index 068481efde..36aed720d6 100644
--- a/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go
+++ b/test/e2e/apimachinery/crd_publish_openapi.go
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ package apimachinery
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"net/http"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
 	utilyaml "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/yaml"
 	k8sclientset "k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/rest"
 	openapiutil "k8s.io/kube-openapi/pkg/util"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/test/e2e/framework"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/test/utils/crd"
@@ -389,6 +392,23 @@ func patchSchema(schema []byte, crd *crd.TestCrd) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+const waitSuccessThreshold = 10
+
+// mustSucceedMultipleTimes calls f multiple times on success and only returns true if all calls are successful.
+// This is necessary to avoid flaking tests where one call might hit a good apiserver while in HA other apiservers
+// might be lagging behind. Calling f multiple times reduces the chance exponentially.
+func mustSucceedMultipleTimes(n int, f func() (bool, error)) func() (bool, error) {
+	return func() (bool, error) {
+		for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+			ok, err := f()
+			if err != nil || !ok {
+				return ok, err
+			}
+		}
+		return true, nil
+	}
+}
+
 // waitForDefinition waits for given definition showing up in swagger with given schema
 func waitForDefinition(c k8sclientset.Interface, name string, schema []byte) error {
 	expect := spec.Schema{}
@@ -396,54 +416,78 @@ func waitForDefinition(c k8sclientset.Interface, name string, schema []byte) err
 		return err
 	}
 
-	lastMsg := ""
-	if err := wait.Poll(500*time.Millisecond, 10*time.Second, func() (bool, error) {
-		bs, err := c.CoreV1().RESTClient().Get().AbsPath("openapi", "v2").DoRaw()
-		if err != nil {
-			return false, err
-		}
-		spec := spec.Swagger{}
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(bs, &spec); err != nil {
-			return false, err
-		}
+	err := waitForOpenAPISchema(c, func(spec *spec.Swagger) (bool, string) {
 		d, ok := spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[name]
 		if !ok {
-			lastMsg = fmt.Sprintf("spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[\"%s\"] not found", name)
-			return false, nil
+			return false, fmt.Sprintf("spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[\"%s\"] not found", name)
 		}
 		// drop properties and extension that we added
 		dropDefaults(&d)
 		if !apiequality.Semantic.DeepEqual(expect, d) {
-			lastMsg = fmt.Sprintf("spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[\"%s\"] not match; expect: %v, actual: %v", name, expect, d)
-			return false, nil
+			return false, fmt.Sprintf("spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[\"%s\"] not match; expect: %v, actual: %v", name, expect, d)
 		}
-		return true, nil
-	}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to wait for definition %s to be served: %v; lastMsg: %s", name, err, lastMsg)
+		return true, ""
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to wait for definition %q to be served with the right OpenAPI schema: %v", name, err)
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
 // waitForDefinitionCleanup waits for given definition to be removed from swagger
 func waitForDefinitionCleanup(c k8sclientset.Interface, name string) error {
+	err := waitForOpenAPISchema(c, func(spec *spec.Swagger) (bool, string) {
+		if _, ok := spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[name]; ok {
+			return false, fmt.Sprintf("spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[\"%s\"] still exists", name)
+		}
+		return true, ""
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to wait for definition %q not to be served anymore: %v", name, err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func waitForOpenAPISchema(c k8sclientset.Interface, pred func(*spec.Swagger) (bool, string)) error {
+	client := c.CoreV1().RESTClient().(*rest.RESTClient).Client
+	url := c.CoreV1().RESTClient().Get().AbsPath("openapi", "v2").URL()
 	lastMsg := ""
-	if err := wait.Poll(500*time.Millisecond, 10*time.Second, func() (bool, error) {
-		bs, err := c.CoreV1().RESTClient().Get().AbsPath("openapi", "v2").DoRaw()
+	etag := ""
+	var etagSpec *spec.Swagger
+	if err := wait.Poll(500*time.Millisecond, wait.ForeverTestTimeout, mustSucceedMultipleTimes(waitSuccessThreshold, func() (bool, error) {
+		// download spec with etag support
+		spec := &spec.Swagger{}
+		req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", url.String(), nil)
 		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
 		}
-		spec := spec.Swagger{}
-		if err := json.Unmarshal(bs, &spec); err != nil {
+		req.Close = true // enforce a new connection to hit different HA API servers
+		if len(etag) > 0 {
+			req.Header.Set("If-None-Match", fmt.Sprintf(`"%s"`, etag))
+		}
+		resp, err := client.Do(req)
+		if err != nil {
 			return false, err
 		}
-		_, ok := spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[name]
-		if ok {
-			lastMsg = fmt.Sprintf("spec.SwaggerProps.Definitions[\"%s\"] still exists", name)
-			return false, nil
+		defer resp.Body.Close()
+		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusNotModified {
+			spec = etagSpec
+		} else if resp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("unexpected response: %d", resp.StatusCode)
+		} else if bs, err := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body); err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		} else if err := json.Unmarshal(bs, spec); err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		} else {
+			etag = strings.Trim(resp.Header.Get("ETag"), `"`)
+			etagSpec = spec
 		}
-		return true, nil
-	}); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("failed to wait for definition %s to be removed: %v; lastMsg: %s", name, err, lastMsg)
+
+		var ok bool
+		ok, lastMsg = pred(spec)
+		return ok, nil
+	})); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("failed to wait for OpenAPI spec validating condition: %v; lastMsg: %s", err, lastMsg)
 	}
 	return nil
 }