diff --git a/tests/kafkatest/tests/connect/connect_distributed_test.py b/tests/kafkatest/tests/connect/connect_distributed_test.py
index d4c4225a0bf8..b9757bad6d0a 100644
--- a/tests/kafkatest/tests/connect/connect_distributed_test.py
+++ b/tests/kafkatest/tests/connect/connect_distributed_test.py
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ def test_bounce(self, clean):
         self.cc.set_configs(lambda node: self.render("connect-distributed.properties", node=node))
         self.cc.start()
 
-        self.source = VerifiableSource(self.cc, tasks=num_tasks)
+        self.source = VerifiableSource(self.cc, tasks=num_tasks, throughput=100)
         self.source.start()
         self.sink = VerifiableSink(self.cc, tasks=num_tasks)
         self.sink.start()
@@ -344,11 +344,14 @@ def test_bounce(self, clean):
                     monitor.wait_until("Starting connectors and tasks using config offset", timeout_sec=90,
                                        err_msg="Kafka Connect worker didn't successfully join group and start work")
                 self.logger.info("Bounced Kafka Connect on %s and rejoined in %f seconds", node.account, time.time() - started)
-                # If this is a hard bounce, give additional time for the consumer groups to recover. If we don't give
-                # some time here, the next bounce may cause consumers to be shut down before they have any time to process
-                # data and we can end up with zero data making it through the test.
-                if not clean:
-                    time.sleep(15)
+
+                # Give additional time for the consumer groups to recover. Even if it is not a hard bounce, there are
+                # some cases where a restart can cause a rebalance to take the full length of the session timeout
+                # (e.g. if the client shuts down before it has received the memberId from its initial JoinGroup).
+                # If we don't give enough time for the group to stabilize, the next bounce may cause consumers to 
+                # be shut down before they have any time to process data and we can end up with zero data making it 
+                # through the test.
+                time.sleep(15)
 
 
         self.source.stop()