diff --git a/gulpfile.js b/gulpfile.js
index 5f103386ce..6789290edd 100644
--- a/gulpfile.js
+++ b/gulpfile.js
@@ -45,8 +45,8 @@ function spawnDaemon (num, callback) {
   setTimeout(() => {
     const daemon = new HTTPAPI(node.repo.path())
     nodes.push(daemon)
-    daemon.start(callback)
-  }, 400)
+    setTimeout(() => daemon.start(callback), 400)
+  }, 800)
 }
 
 gulp.task('libnode:start', (done) => {
diff --git a/test/core/bitswap.spec.js b/test/core/bitswap.spec.js
index 8a4b58ed77..4a0b998403 100644
--- a/test/core/bitswap.spec.js
+++ b/test/core/bitswap.spec.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ describe('bitswap', () => {
       init: false,
       start: false,
       EXPERIMENTAL: {
-        pubsub: true
+        pubsub: false
       }
     })
     series([