diff --git a/salt/channel/server.py b/salt/channel/server.py
index 5042aca8506e..045137363add 100644
--- a/salt/channel/server.py
+++ b/salt/channel/server.py
@@ -965,10 +965,13 @@ def send_aes_key_event(self):
         with salt.utils.event.get_master_event(
             self.opts, self.opts["sock_dir"], listen=False
         ) as event:
-            event.fire_event(
+            success = event.fire_event(
                 data,
                 salt.utils.event.tagify(self.opts["id"], "peer", "cluster"),
+                timeout=30000,  # 30 second timeout
             )
+            if not success:
+                log.error("Unable to send aes key event")
 
     def __getstate__(self):
         return {
diff --git a/tests/pytests/scenarios/cluster/test_cluster.py b/tests/pytests/scenarios/cluster/test_cluster.py
index 21dea04be8df..35899a2a1e93 100644
--- a/tests/pytests/scenarios/cluster/test_cluster.py
+++ b/tests/pytests/scenarios/cluster/test_cluster.py
@@ -55,8 +55,6 @@ def test_cluster_key_rotation(
         if time.monotonic() - start > timeout:
             assert False, f"Drop file never removed {dfpath}"
 
-    time.sleep(30)
-
     keys = set()
 
     # Validate the aes session key for all masters match