diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/poll_spec_large.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/poll_spec_large.ts
index d3565810baf3..ea2b42387d58 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/poll_spec_large.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/test/browser/poll_spec_large.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ describe('Browser Builder poll', () => {
   beforeEach(done => host.initialize().toPromise().then(done, done.fail));
   afterEach(done => host.restore().toPromise().then(done, done.fail));
 
-  xit('works', (done) => {
-    const overrides = { watch: true, poll: 2000 };
+  it('works', (done) => {
+    const overrides = { watch: true, poll: 10000 };
     const intervals: number[] = [];
     let startTime: number | undefined;
     runTargetSpec(host, browserTargetSpec, overrides).pipe(
@@ -30,12 +30,12 @@ describe('Browser Builder poll', () => {
         startTime = Date.now();
         host.appendToFile('src/main.ts', 'console.log(1);');
       }),
-      take(6),
+      take(4),
     ).subscribe(undefined, done.fail, () => {
       intervals.sort();
       const median = intervals[Math.trunc(intervals.length / 2)];
-      expect(median).toBeGreaterThan(1000);
-      expect(median).toBeLessThan(4000);
+      expect(median).toBeGreaterThan(3000);
+      expect(median).toBeLessThan(12000);
       done();
     });
   });
diff --git a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/poll.ts b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/poll.ts
index a76a8c6f1052..e2aacf46f586 100644
--- a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/poll.ts
+++ b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/poll.ts
@@ -1,42 +1,32 @@
+import { appendToFile } from '../../utils/fs';
 import {
   killAllProcesses,
   waitForAnyProcessOutputToMatch,
-  execAndWaitForOutputToMatch
 } from '../../utils/process';
-import {appendToFile} from '../../utils/fs';
-import {expectToFail, wait} from '../../utils/utils';
+import { ngServe } from '../../utils/project';
+import { expectToFail, wait } from '../../utils/utils';
 
 const webpackGoodRegEx = /: Compiled successfully./;
 
-export default function() {
-  // TODO(architect): This test is behaving oddly both here and in devkit/build-angular.
-  // It seems to be because of file watchers.
-  return;
+export default async function() {
+  try {
+    await ngServe('--poll=10000');
 
-
-  // @filipesilva: This test doesn't work correctly on CircleCI while being ran by the test script.
-  // Polling time seems to be ignored and several builds are fired per second.
-  // Debugging showed that webpack things the `src/` directory changed on each rebuild.
-  // Disabling for now.
-  if (process.env['CIRCLECI']) {
-    return;
-  }
-
-
-  return execAndWaitForOutputToMatch('ng', ['build', '--watch', '--poll=10000'], webpackGoodRegEx)
     // Wait before editing a file.
     // Editing too soon seems to trigger a rebuild and throw polling out of whack.
-    .then(() => wait(3000))
-    .then(() => appendToFile('src/main.ts', 'console.log(1);'))
+    await wait(3000);
+    await appendToFile('src/main.ts', 'console.log(1);');
+
     // We have to wait poll time + rebuild build time for the regex match.
-    .then(() => waitForAnyProcessOutputToMatch(webpackGoodRegEx, 14000))
-    .then(() => appendToFile('src/main.ts', 'console.log(1);'))
+    await waitForAnyProcessOutputToMatch(webpackGoodRegEx, 14000);
+
     // No rebuilds should occur for a while
-    .then(() => expectToFail(() => waitForAnyProcessOutputToMatch(webpackGoodRegEx, 7000)))
+    await appendToFile('src/main.ts', 'console.log(1);');
+    await expectToFail(() => waitForAnyProcessOutputToMatch(webpackGoodRegEx, 7000));
+
     // But a rebuild should happen roughly within the 10 second window.
-    .then(() => waitForAnyProcessOutputToMatch(webpackGoodRegEx, 7000))
-    .then(() => killAllProcesses(), (err: any) => {
-      killAllProcesses();
-      throw err;
-    });
+    await waitForAnyProcessOutputToMatch(webpackGoodRegEx, 7000);
+  } finally {
+    killAllProcesses();
+  }
 }