diff --git a/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane.go b/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane.go
index 18248f06dc..0ab6a76bd6 100644
--- a/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane.go
+++ b/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane.go
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ func (dp *DataPlane) FinishBootupPhase() {
 	dp.applyInfo.Lock()
 	defer dp.applyInfo.Unlock()
 
+	klog.Infof("[DataPlane] finished bootup phase")
 	dp.applyInfo.inBootupPhase = false
 }
 
diff --git a/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane_windows_test.go b/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane_windows_test.go
index 4e2cb1f39a..5cd69a23c2 100644
--- a/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane_windows_test.go
+++ b/npm/pkg/dataplane/dataplane_windows_test.go
@@ -182,6 +182,8 @@ func testMultiJobCases(t *testing.T, tests []*MultiJobTestCase, finalSleep time.
 				require.FailNow(t, "encountered errors in multi-job test: %+v", errStrings)
 			}
 
+			// just care about eventual consistency, so add extra applyDP e.g. in case finishBootupPhase() runs last
+			require.NoError(t, dp.applyDataPlaneNow("UT FINAL APPLY"))
 			dptestutils.VerifyHNSCache(t, hns, tt.ExpectedSetPolicies, tt.ExpectedEnpdointACLs)
 		})
 	}