diff --git a/test/functional/p2p_invalid_messages.py b/test/functional/p2p_invalid_messages.py
index d9e24dd5fc..07cda429b3 100755
--- a/test/functional/p2p_invalid_messages.py
+++ b/test/functional/p2p_invalid_messages.py
@@ -140,7 +140,6 @@ class InvalidMessagesTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
         # Node is still up.
         conn = node.add_p2p_connection(P2PDataStore())
-        conn.sync_with_ping()
 
     def test_magic_bytes(self):
         conn = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(P2PDataStore())
diff --git a/test/functional/p2p_leak.py b/test/functional/p2p_leak.py
index 805a15ed73..e037b6a975 100755
--- a/test/functional/p2p_leak.py
+++ b/test/functional/p2p_leak.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ from test_framework.util import (
 
 banscore = 10
 
+
 class CLazyNode(P2PInterface):
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__()
@@ -113,7 +114,11 @@ class P2PLeakTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def run_test(self):
         no_version_bannode = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(CNodeNoVersionBan(), send_version=False, wait_for_verack=False)
         no_version_idlenode = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(CNodeNoVersionIdle(), send_version=False, wait_for_verack=False)
-        no_verack_idlenode = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(CNodeNoVerackIdle())
+        no_verack_idlenode = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(CNodeNoVerackIdle(), wait_for_verack=False)
+
+        # Wait until we got the verack in response to the version. Though, don't wait for the other node to receive the
+        # verack, since we never sent one
+        no_verack_idlenode.wait_for_verack()
 
         wait_until(lambda: no_version_bannode.ever_connected, timeout=10, lock=mininode_lock)
         wait_until(lambda: no_version_idlenode.ever_connected, timeout=10, lock=mininode_lock)
diff --git a/test/functional/p2p_timeouts.py b/test/functional/p2p_timeouts.py
index 91dd98f14c..fe86244e6c 100755
--- a/test/functional/p2p_timeouts.py
+++ b/test/functional/p2p_timeouts.py
@@ -27,11 +27,13 @@ from test_framework.messages import msg_ping
 from test_framework.mininode import P2PInterface
 from test_framework.test_framework import BitcoinTestFramework
 
+
 class TestP2PConn(P2PInterface):
     def on_version(self, message):
         # Don't send a verack in response
         pass
 
+
 class TimeoutsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
     def set_test_params(self):
         self.setup_clean_chain = True
@@ -41,10 +43,14 @@ class TimeoutsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
 
     def run_test(self):
         # Setup the p2p connections
-        no_verack_node = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(TestP2PConn())
+        no_verack_node = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(TestP2PConn(), wait_for_verack=False)
         no_version_node = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(TestP2PConn(), send_version=False, wait_for_verack=False)
         no_send_node = self.nodes[0].add_p2p_connection(TestP2PConn(), send_version=False, wait_for_verack=False)
 
+        # Wait until we got the verack in response to the version. Though, don't wait for the other node to receive the
+        # verack, since we never sent one
+        no_verack_node.wait_for_verack()
+
         sleep(1)
 
         assert no_verack_node.is_connected
@@ -77,5 +83,6 @@ class TimeoutsTest(BitcoinTestFramework):
             assert not no_version_node.is_connected
             assert not no_send_node.is_connected
 
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     TimeoutsTest().main()
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
index ab3b203c13..c9f5374f08 100755
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
@@ -505,7 +505,19 @@ class TestNode():
         p2p_conn.peer_connect(**kwargs, net=self.chain, factor=self.factor)()
         self.p2ps.append(p2p_conn)
         if wait_for_verack:
+            # Wait for the node to send us the version and verack
             p2p_conn.wait_for_verack()
+            # At this point we have sent our version message and received the version and verack, however the full node
+            # has not yet received the verack from us (in reply to their version). So, the connection is not yet fully
+            # established (fSuccessfullyConnected).
+            #
+            # This shouldn't lead to any issues when sending messages, since the verack will be in-flight before the
+            # message we send. However, it might lead to races where we are expecting to receive a message. E.g. a
+            # transaction that will be added to the mempool as soon as we return here.
+            #
+            # So syncing here is redundant when we only want to send a message, but the cost is low (a few milliseconds)
+            # in comparision to the upside of making tests less fragile and unexpected intermittent errors less likely.
+            p2p_conn.sync_with_ping()
 
         return p2p_conn
 
@@ -534,6 +546,7 @@ class TestNode():
 
         del self.p2ps[:]
 
+
 class TestNodeCLIAttr:
     def __init__(self, cli, command):
         self.cli = cli
@@ -545,6 +558,7 @@ class TestNodeCLIAttr:
     def get_request(self, *args, **kwargs):
         return lambda: self(*args, **kwargs)
 
+
 def arg_to_cli(arg):
     if isinstance(arg, bool):
         return str(arg).lower()
@@ -553,6 +567,7 @@ def arg_to_cli(arg):
     else:
         return str(arg)
 
+
 class TestNodeCLI():
     """Interface to dash-cli for an individual node"""