diff --git a/tests/framework/utils/k8s_helper.go b/tests/framework/utils/k8s_helper.go
index cda2e672e..1652482d0 100644
--- a/tests/framework/utils/k8s_helper.go
+++ b/tests/framework/utils/k8s_helper.go
@@ -1527,13 +1527,13 @@ func IsKubectlErrorNotFound(output string, err error) bool {
 // WaitForDeploymentCount waits until the desired number of deployments with the label exist. The
 // deployments are not guaranteed to be running, only existing.
 func (k8sh *K8sHelper) WaitForDeploymentCount(label, namespace string, count int) error {
-	return k8sh.waitForDeploymentCountWithRetries(label, namespace, count, RetryLoop)
+	return k8sh.WaitForDeploymentCountWithRetries(label, namespace, count, RetryLoop)
 }
 
 // WaitForDeploymentCountWithRetries waits until the desired number of deployments with the label
 // exist, retrying the specified number of times. The deployments are not guaranteed to be running,
 // only existing.
-func (k8sh *K8sHelper) waitForDeploymentCountWithRetries(label, namespace string, count, retries int) error {
+func (k8sh *K8sHelper) WaitForDeploymentCountWithRetries(label, namespace string, count, retries int) error {
 	ctx := context.TODO()
 	options := metav1.ListOptions{LabelSelector: label}
 	for i := 0; i < retries; i++ {
diff --git a/tests/integration/ceph_upgrade_test.go b/tests/integration/ceph_upgrade_test.go
index 0aae3798a..7fd081196 100644
--- a/tests/integration/ceph_upgrade_test.go
+++ b/tests/integration/ceph_upgrade_test.go
@@ -364,7 +364,8 @@ func (s *UpgradeSuite) verifyRookUpgrade(numOSDs int) {
 func (s *UpgradeSuite) waitForUpgradedDaemons(previousVersion, versionLabel string, numOSDs int, waitForMDS bool) {
 	// wait for the mon(s) to be updated
 	monsNotOldVersion := fmt.Sprintf("app=rook-ceph-mon,%s!=%s", versionLabel, previousVersion)
-	err := s.k8sh.WaitForDeploymentCount(monsNotOldVersion, s.namespace, s.settings.Mons)
+	// extend the timeout for this check because it can take 6+ minutes to pull ceph-ci images
+	err := s.k8sh.WaitForDeploymentCountWithRetries(monsNotOldVersion, s.namespace, s.settings.Mons, utils.RetryLoop+120)
 	require.NoError(s.T(), err, "mon(s) didn't update")
 	err = s.k8sh.WaitForLabeledDeploymentsToBeReady(monsNotOldVersion, s.namespace)
 	require.NoError(s.T(), err)