diff --git a/.github/workflows/wait-and-upload.yml b/.github/workflows/wait-and-upload.yml
index e2fd6dd1..8821aaaa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/wait-and-upload.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/wait-and-upload.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Get specific check run status
       run: |
+        # start with a random sleep to prevent hitting the api too hard.
+        sleep $(($RANDOM % 180))
         while [[ true ]]; do
           # For GitHub Apps
           # conclusion=$(gh api repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/commits/$GITHUB_SHA/status --jq '.check_runs[] | select(.name == "ci/hydra-build:$DEV_SHELL") | .conclusion')
@@ -54,7 +56,7 @@ jobs:
             *)
               echo "conclusion is: '$conclusion'"
               gh api repos/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/commits/$GITHUB_SHA/status --paginate --jq '.'
-              WAIT=$((180 + $RANDOM % 60))
+              WAIT=$((180 + $RANDOM % 180))
               echo "ci/hydra-build:$DEV_SHELL pending. Waiting ${WAIT}s..."
               sleep $WAIT;;
           esac