diff --git a/bin/tests/system/resolver/clean.sh b/bin/tests/system/resolver/clean.sh
index b25e8a6e8f..1d32bc122e 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/resolver/clean.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/resolver/clean.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 #
 rm -f */named.conf
 rm -f */named.memstats
-rm -f */named.run
+rm -f */named.run */named.run.prev
 rm -f */ans.run
 rm -f */*.jdb
 rm -f dig.out dig.out.* dig.*.out.*
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/resolver/tests.sh b/bin/tests/system/resolver/tests.sh
index d8485f29ed..4f2cdc4907 100755
--- a/bin/tests/system/resolver/tests.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/resolver/tests.sh
@@ -256,10 +256,17 @@ status=`expr $status + $ret`
 
 n=`expr $n + 1`
 echo_i "check that the resolver limits the number of NS records it follows in a referral response ($n)"
-# ns5 is the recusor being tested.  ns4 holds the sourcens zone containing names with varying numbers of NS
-# records pointing to non-existent nameservers in the targetns zone on ns6.
+# ns5 is the recusor being tested.  ns4 holds the sourcens zone containing
+# names with varying numbers of NS records pointing to non-existent
+# nameservers in the targetns zone on ns6.
 ret=0
 $RNDCCMD 10.53.0.5 flush || ret=1   # Ensure cache is empty before doing this test
+count_fetches () {
+        actual=$(nextpartpeek ns5/named.run |
+                  grep " fetch: ns.fake${nscount}" | wc -l)
+        [ ${actual:-0} -eq ${expected} ] || return 1
+        return 0
+}
 for nscount in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 do
         # Verify number of NS records at source server
@@ -267,23 +274,16 @@ do
         sourcerecs=`grep NS dig.ns4.out.${nscount}.${n} | grep -v ';' | wc -l`
         test $sourcerecs -eq $nscount || ret=1
         test $sourcerecs -eq $nscount || echo_i "NS count incorrect for target${nscount}.sourcens"
+
         # Expected queries = 2 * number of NS records, up to a maximum of 10.
         expected=`expr 2 \* $nscount`
         if [ $expected -gt 10 ]; then expected=10; fi
-        # Work out the queries made by checking statistics on the target before and after the test
-        $RNDCCMD 10.53.0.6 stats || ret=1
-        initial_count=`awk '/responses sent/ {print $1}' ns6/named.stats`
-        mv ns6/named.stats ns6/named.stats.initial.${nscount}.${n}
+        # Count the number of logged fetches 
+        nextpart ns5/named.run > /dev/null
         $DIG $DIGOPTS @10.53.0.5 target${nscount}.sourcens A > dig.ns5.out.${nscount}.${n} || ret=1
-        $RNDCCMD 10.53.0.6 stats || ret=1
-        final_count=`awk '/responses sent/ {print $1}' ns6/named.stats`
-        mv ns6/named.stats ns6/named.stats.final.${nscount}.${n}
-        # Check number of queries during the test is as expected
-        actual=`expr $final_count - $initial_count`
-        if [ $actual -ne $expected ]; then
-                echo_i "query count error: $nscount NS records: expected queries $expected, actual $actual"
-                ret=1
-        fi
+        retry_quiet 5 count_fetches ns5/named.run $nscount $expected || {
+            echo_i "query count error: $nscount NS records: expected queries $expected, actual $actual"; ret=1;
+        }
 done
 if [ $ret != 0 ]; then echo_i "failed"; fi
 status=`expr $status + $ret`