diff --git a/node/pkg/node/node_test.go b/node/pkg/node/node_test.go
index e1ce0c08c..82370fd56 100644
--- a/node/pkg/node/node_test.go
+++ b/node/pkg/node/node_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package node
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"crypto/ecdsa"
 	"crypto/rand"
@@ -43,6 +45,11 @@ const LOCAL_RPC_PORTRANGE_START = 10000
 const LOCAL_P2P_PORTRANGE_START = 10100
 const LOCAL_STATUS_PORTRANGE_START = 10200
 
+var PROMETHEUS_METRIC_VALID_HEARTBEAT_RECEIVED = []byte("wormhole_p2p_broadcast_messages_received_total{type=\"valid_heartbeat\"}")
+
+const WAIT_FOR_LOGS = true
+const WAIT_FOR_METRICS = false
+
 type mockGuardian struct {
 	p2pKey           libp2p_crypto.PrivKey
 	MockObservationC chan *common.MessagePublication
@@ -183,7 +190,7 @@ func setupLogsCapture() (*zap.Logger, *observer.ObservedLogs) {
 	return logger, logs
 }
 
-func waitForHeartbeats(t *testing.T, zapObserver *observer.ObservedLogs, gs []*mockGuardian) {
+func waitForHeartbeatsInLogs(t *testing.T, zapObserver *observer.ObservedLogs, gs []*mockGuardian) {
 	// example log entry that we're looking for:
 	// 		DEBUG	root.g-2.g.p2p	p2p/p2p.go:465	valid signed heartbeat received	{"value": "node_name:\"g-0\"  timestamp:1685677055425243683  version:\"development\"  guardian_addr:\"0xeF2a03eAec928DD0EEAf35aD31e34d2b53152c07\"  boot_timestamp:1685677040424855922  p2p_node_id:\"\\x00$\\x08\\x01\\x12 \\x97\\xf3\\xbd\\x87\\x13\\x15(\\x1e\\x8b\\x83\\xedǩ\\xfd\\x05A\\x06aTD\\x90p\\xcc\\xdb<\\xddB\\xcfi\\xccވ\"", "from": "12D3KooWL3XJ9EMCyZvmmGXL2LMiVBtrVa2BuESsJiXkSj7333Jw"}
 	// TODO maybe instead of looking at log entries, we could determine this status through prometheus metrics, which might be more stable
@@ -213,6 +220,51 @@ func waitForHeartbeats(t *testing.T, zapObserver *observer.ObservedLogs, gs []*m
 	}
 }
 
+func waitForHeartbeatsInMetrics(t *testing.T, ctx context.Context, gs []*mockGuardian) {
+	requests := make([]*http.Request, len(gs))
+	//logger := supervisor.Logger(ctx)
+
+	// create the prom api clients
+	for i := range gs {
+		url := fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:%d/metrics", mockStatusPort(uint(i)))
+		req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, "GET", url, nil)
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+		requests[i] = req
+	}
+
+	// query them
+	for readyCounter := 0; readyCounter < len(gs); {
+		for i, g := range gs {
+			if g.ready {
+				continue
+			}
+
+			resp, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(requests[i])
+			if err != nil {
+				resp.Body.Close()
+				continue
+			}
+
+			scanner := bufio.NewScanner(resp.Body)
+			for scanner.Scan() {
+				line := scanner.Bytes()
+				if bytes.HasPrefix(line, PROMETHEUS_METRIC_VALID_HEARTBEAT_RECEIVED) {
+					res, err := strconv.Atoi(string(bytes.Split(line, []byte(" "))[1])) // split at the space and convert to integer
+					assert.NoError(t, err)
+					if res > 0 {
+						g.ready = true
+						readyCounter++
+						break
+					}
+				}
+			}
+
+			//logger.Info("node not ready yet", zap.Int("i", i))
+		}
+		time.Sleep(time.Second * 5)
+	}
+}
+
 type testCase struct {
 	msg *common.MessagePublication // a Wormhole message
 	// number of Guardians who will initially observe this message through the mock watcher
@@ -401,13 +453,19 @@ func testConsensus(t *testing.T, testCases []testCase, numGuardians int) {
 
 		// wait for the status server to come online and check that it works
 		for i := range gs {
-			err := testStatusServer(ctx, logger, fmt.Sprintf("http://127.0.0.1:%d", mockStatusPort(uint(i))))
+			err := testStatusServer(ctx, logger, fmt.Sprintf("http://127.0.0.1:%d/metrics", mockStatusPort(uint(i))))
 			assert.NoError(t, err)
 		}
 
 		// Wait for them to connect each other and receive at least one heartbeat.
 		// This is necessary because if they have not joined the p2p network yet, gossip messages may get dropped silently.
-		waitForHeartbeats(t, zapObserver, gs)
+		assert.True(t, WAIT_FOR_LOGS || WAIT_FOR_METRICS)
+		if WAIT_FOR_METRICS {
+			waitForHeartbeatsInMetrics(t, ctx, gs)
+		}
+		if WAIT_FOR_LOGS {
+			waitForHeartbeatsInLogs(t, zapObserver, gs)
+		}
 		logger.Info("All Guardians have received at least one heartbeat.")
 
 		// have them make observations