diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 3795ccb6dd..b9fa29bd81 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -295,7 +295,6 @@
           <systemPropertyVariables>
             <hudson.slaves.NodeProvisioner.initialDelay>0</hudson.slaves.NodeProvisioner.initialDelay>
             <hudson.slaves.NodeProvisioner.recurrencePeriod>3000</hudson.slaves.NodeProvisioner.recurrencePeriod>
-            <org.csanchez.jenkins.plugins.kubernetes.GarbageCollection.recurrencePeriod>5</org.csanchez.jenkins.plugins.kubernetes.GarbageCollection.recurrencePeriod>
             <org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.support.pickles.ExecutorPickle.timeoutForNodeMillis>60000</org.jenkinsci.plugins.workflow.support.pickles.ExecutorPickle.timeoutForNodeMillis>
             <!-- listen in this interface for connections from kubernetes pods -->
             <connectorHost>${connectorHost}</connectorHost>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/csanchez/jenkins/plugins/kubernetes/GarbageCollection.java b/src/main/java/org/csanchez/jenkins/plugins/kubernetes/GarbageCollection.java
index 3d7c6e98d4..103652b9bc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/csanchez/jenkins/plugins/kubernetes/GarbageCollection.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/csanchez/jenkins/plugins/kubernetes/GarbageCollection.java
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ public class GarbageCollection extends AbstractDescribableImpl<GarbageCollection
     private int timeout;
 
     private static Long RECURRENCE_PERIOD = SystemProperties.getLong(
-            GarbageCollection.class.getName() + ".recurrencePeriod", TimeUnit.MINUTES.toSeconds(1));
+            GarbageCollection.class.getName() + ".recurrencePeriod",
+            Main.isUnitTest ? 5 : TimeUnit.MINUTES.toSeconds(1));
 
     @DataBoundConstructor
     public GarbageCollection() {}