diff --git a/test/shell/metadata-full.sh b/test/shell/metadata-full.sh
index 67333d873..a1b7d0249 100644
--- a/test/shell/metadata-full.sh
+++ b/test/shell/metadata-full.sh
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ for i in $(seq 1 "$TEST_DEVS"); do
 done
 
 # test we hit 'out-of-metadata-space'
-test "$i" -gt 5
+test "$i" -gt 2
 test "$i" -lt "$TEST_DEVS"
 
 # should show 0