diff --git a/e2e/requirements.txt b/e2e/requirements.txt
index e69a5a9a4..ed4bf7809 100644
--- a/e2e/requirements.txt
+++ b/e2e/requirements.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@ directio==1.3
 flake8
 kubernetes==27.2.0
 requests==2.32.3
-boto3==1.35.69
+boto3==1.35.71
 pyyaml==6.0.2
 minio==5.0.10
diff --git a/manager/integration/tests/common.py b/manager/integration/tests/common.py
index 439129e0a..daa02445a 100644
--- a/manager/integration/tests/common.py
+++ b/manager/integration/tests/common.py
@@ -2536,8 +2536,9 @@ def wait_for_replica_scheduled(client, volume_name, to_nodes,
             assert volume.robustness == VOLUME_ROBUSTNESS_HEALTHY
 
         scheduled = 0
-        unexpect_fail = expect_fail
-        expect_nodes = [n for n in to_nodes]
+        unexpect_fail = max(0, expect_fail)
+
+        expect_nodes = set(to_nodes)
         for r in volume.replicas:
             try:
                 assert r.hostId in expect_nodes
@@ -2551,7 +2552,8 @@ def wait_for_replica_scheduled(client, volume_name, to_nodes,
 
                 scheduled += 1
             except AssertionError:
-                unexpect_fail -= 1
+                if expect_fail >= 0:
+                    unexpect_fail -= 1
 
         if scheduled == expect_success and unexpect_fail == 0:
             break
@@ -2559,9 +2561,12 @@ def wait_for_replica_scheduled(client, volume_name, to_nodes,
         time.sleep(RETRY_INTERVAL)
 
     assert scheduled == expect_success, f" Volume = {volume}"
-    assert unexpect_fail == 0, f" Volume = {volume}"
-    assert len(volume.replicas) == expect_success + expect_fail, \
-        f" Volume = {volume}"
+    assert unexpect_fail == 0, f"Got {unexpect_fail} unexpected fail"
+
+    if expect_fail >= 0:
+        assert len(volume.replicas) == expect_success + expect_fail, \
+            f" Volume = {volume}"
+
     return volume
 
 
diff --git a/manager/integration/tests/test_basic.py b/manager/integration/tests/test_basic.py
index aa531040f..77851b050 100644
--- a/manager/integration/tests/test_basic.py
+++ b/manager/integration/tests/test_basic.py
@@ -3791,7 +3791,7 @@ def test_allow_volume_creation_with_degraded_availability_restore(set_random_bac
                                                 to_nodes=[node1.name,
                                                           node2.name],
                                                 expect_success=2,
-                                                expect_fail=0,
+                                                expect_fail=-1,
                                                 chk_vol_healthy=False,
                                                 chk_replica_running=False)