diff --git a/balancer/roundrobin/roundrobin_test.go b/balancer/roundrobin/roundrobin_test.go
index 7f953ff0..87acf85f 100644
--- a/balancer/roundrobin/roundrobin_test.go
+++ b/balancer/roundrobin/roundrobin_test.go
@@ -318,7 +318,7 @@ func TestOneServerDown(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer test.cleanup()
 
-	cc, err := grpc.Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", grpc.WithInsecure(), grpc.WithBalancerBuilder(rr))
+	cc, err := grpc.Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", grpc.WithInsecure(), grpc.WithBalancerBuilder(rr), grpc.WithWaitForHandshake())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to dial: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -372,6 +372,7 @@ func TestOneServerDown(t *testing.T) {
 	var targetSeen int
 	for i := 0; i < 1000; i++ {
 		if _, err := testc.EmptyCall(context.Background(), &testpb.Empty{}, grpc.Peer(&p)); err != nil {
+			targetSeen = 0
 			t.Logf("EmptyCall() = _, %v, want _, <nil>", err)
 			// Due to a race, this RPC could possibly get the connection that
 			// was closing, and this RPC may fail. Keep trying when this
@@ -415,7 +416,7 @@ func TestAllServersDown(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	defer test.cleanup()
 
-	cc, err := grpc.Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", grpc.WithInsecure(), grpc.WithBalancerBuilder(rr))
+	cc, err := grpc.Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", grpc.WithInsecure(), grpc.WithBalancerBuilder(rr), grpc.WithWaitForHandshake())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to dial: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/balancer_test.go b/balancer_test.go
index a1558f02..19f15e82 100644
--- a/balancer_test.go
+++ b/balancer_test.go
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ func TestOneServerDown(t *testing.T) {
 	numServers := 2
 	servers, r, cleanup := startServers(t, numServers, math.MaxUint32)
 	defer cleanup()
-	cc, err := Dial("passthrough:///foo.bar.com", WithBalancer(RoundRobin(r)), WithBlock(), WithInsecure(), WithCodec(testCodec{}))
+	cc, err := Dial("passthrough:///foo.bar.com", WithBalancer(RoundRobin(r)), WithBlock(), WithInsecure(), WithCodec(testCodec{}), WithWaitForHandshake())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Failed to create ClientConn: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -660,7 +660,7 @@ func TestPickFirstOrderOneServerDown(t *testing.T) {
 	numServers := 3
 	servers, r, cleanup := startServers(t, numServers, math.MaxUint32)
 	defer cleanup()
-	cc, err := Dial("passthrough:///foo.bar.com", WithBalancer(pickFirstBalancerV1(r)), WithBlock(), WithInsecure(), WithCodec(testCodec{}))
+	cc, err := Dial("passthrough:///foo.bar.com", WithBalancer(pickFirstBalancerV1(r)), WithBlock(), WithInsecure(), WithCodec(testCodec{}), WithWaitForHandshake())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Failed to create ClientConn: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/pickfirst_test.go b/pickfirst_test.go
index e58b3422..6225b1ab 100644
--- a/pickfirst_test.go
+++ b/pickfirst_test.go
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ func TestOneServerDownPickfirst(t *testing.T) {
 	servers, _, scleanup := startServers(t, numServers, math.MaxInt32)
 	defer scleanup()
 
-	cc, err := Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", WithInsecure(), WithBalancerBuilder(newPickfirstBuilder()), WithCodec(testCodec{}))
+	cc, err := Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", WithInsecure(), WithBalancerBuilder(newPickfirstBuilder()), WithCodec(testCodec{}), WithWaitForHandshake())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to dial: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ func TestAllServersDownPickfirst(t *testing.T) {
 	servers, _, scleanup := startServers(t, numServers, math.MaxInt32)
 	defer scleanup()
 
-	cc, err := Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", WithInsecure(), WithBalancerBuilder(newPickfirstBuilder()), WithCodec(testCodec{}))
+	cc, err := Dial(r.Scheme()+":///test.server", WithInsecure(), WithBalancerBuilder(newPickfirstBuilder()), WithCodec(testCodec{}), WithWaitForHandshake())
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("failed to dial: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/test/end2end_test.go b/test/end2end_test.go
index 43a53a19..8621349c 100644
--- a/test/end2end_test.go
+++ b/test/end2end_test.go
@@ -468,6 +468,7 @@ type test struct {
 	clientInitialWindowSize     int32
 	clientInitialConnWindowSize int32
 	perRPCCreds                 credentials.PerRPCCredentials
+	customDialOptions           []grpc.DialOption
 	resolverScheme              string
 
 	// All test dialing is blocking by default. Set this to true if dial
@@ -718,6 +719,7 @@ func (te *test) clientConn() *grpc.ClientConn {
 	if te.srvAddr == "" {
 		te.srvAddr = "client.side.only.test"
 	}
+	opts = append(opts, te.customDialOptions...)
 	var err error
 	te.cc, err = grpc.Dial(scheme+te.srvAddr, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -803,6 +805,7 @@ func TestTimeoutOnDeadServer(t *testing.T) {
 
 func testTimeoutOnDeadServer(t *testing.T, e env) {
 	te := newTest(t, e)
+	te.customDialOptions = []grpc.DialOption{grpc.WithWaitForHandshake()}
 	te.userAgent = testAppUA
 	te.declareLogNoise(
 		"transport: http2Client.notifyError got notified that the client transport was broken EOF",