diff --git a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/lifecycle.gold b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/lifecycle.gold
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..718a4b7cc68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/lifecycle.gold
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+(global) id:   0
+(global) id:   1
+(global) id:   2
+(global) id:   3
+(remap) id:   0
+(remap) id:   1
+(remap) id:   2
+(remap) id:   3
diff --git a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/lifecycle.stderr.gold b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/lifecycle.stderr.gold
deleted file mode 100644
index 1e4a4f87dfb..00000000000
--- a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/lifecycle.stderr.gold
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-``
-`` ts_lua (remap) id:   0 gc_kb: `` gc_kb_max: `` threads: `` threads_max: ``
-`` ts_lua (remap) id:   1 gc_kb: `` gc_kb_max: `` threads: `` threads_max: ``
-`` ts_lua (remap) id:   2 gc_kb: `` gc_kb_max: `` threads: `` threads_max: ``
-`` ts_lua (remap) id:   3 gc_kb: `` gc_kb_max: `` threads: `` threads_max: ``
-``
diff --git a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/metrics.gold b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/metrics.gold
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a40413cbead
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/metrics.gold
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+plugin.lua.global.states
+plugin.lua.global.gc_bytes
+plugin.lua.global.threads
+plugin.lua.remap.states
+plugin.lua.remap.gc_bytes
+plugin.lua.remap.threads
diff --git a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/metrics.stdout.gold b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/metrics.stdout.gold
deleted file mode 100644
index 4c1362bea13..00000000000
--- a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/gold/metrics.stdout.gold
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-plugin.lua.global.states ``
-plugin.lua.global.gc_bytes ``
-plugin.lua.global.threads ``
-plugin.lua.remap.states ``
-plugin.lua.remap.gc_bytes ``
-plugin.lua.remap.threads ``
diff --git a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/lifecycle_stats.sh b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/lifecycle_stats.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..764a1015d74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/lifecycle_stats.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+#  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+#  distributed with this work for additional information
+#  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+#  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+#  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+#  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+#  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+#  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+#  limitations under the License.
+
+traffic_ctl plugin msg ts_lua print_stats
+N=60
+while (( N > 0 ))
+do
+    sleep 1
+    rm -f lifecycle.out
+    grep -F ' ts_lua ' ts.stderr.txt | \
+        sed -e 's/^.* ts_lua //' -e 's/ gc_kb:.*gc_kb_max:.*threads:.*threads_max:.*$//' > lifecycle.out
+    if diff lifecycle.out ${AUTEST_TEST_DIR}/gold/lifecycle.gold > /dev/null
+    then
+        exit 0
+    fi
+    let N=N-1
+done
+echo TIMEOUT
+exit 1
diff --git a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/lua_states_stats.test.py b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/lua_states_stats.test.py
index 5f0083adf79..47dc09b6b01 100644
--- a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/lua_states_stats.test.py
+++ b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/lua_states_stats.test.py
@@ -23,16 +23,25 @@
 Test.SkipUnless(
     Condition.PluginExists('tslua.so'),
 )
-Test.SkipIf(Condition.true("Test cannot deterministically wait until the stats appear"))
 
 Test.ContinueOnFail = True
 # Define default ATS
 server = Test.MakeOriginServer("server")
 
-ts = Test.MakeATSProcess("ts", command="traffic_manager", select_ports=True)
+# It is necessary to redirect stderr to a file so it will be available for examination by a test run.
+ts = Test.MakeATSProcess(
+    "ts", command="traffic_manager 2> " + Test.RunDirectory + "/ts.stderr.txt", select_ports=True
+)
+# For unknown reasons, traffic_manager returns 2 instead of 0 on exit with stderr redirect here.
+ts.ReturnCode = 2
 
 Test.testName = "Lua states and stats"
 
+Test.Setup.Copy("hello.lua")
+Test.Setup.Copy("global.lua")
+Test.Setup.Copy("metrics.sh")
+Test.Setup.Copy("lifecycle_stats.sh")
+
 # test to ensure origin server works
 request_header = {"headers": "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: www.example.com\r\n\r\n",
                   "timestamp": "1469733493.993", "body": ""}
@@ -45,10 +54,10 @@
 ts.Disk.remap_config.AddLines({
     'map / http://127.0.0.1:{}/'.format(server.Variables.Port),
     'map http://hello http://127.0.0.1:{}/'.format(server.Variables.Port) +
-    ' @plugin=tslua.so @pparam={}/hello.lua'.format(Test.TestDirectory)
+    ' @plugin=tslua.so @pparam={}/hello.lua'.format(Test.RunDirectory)
 })
 
-ts.Disk.plugin_config.AddLine('tslua.so {}/global.lua'.format(Test.TestDirectory))
+ts.Disk.plugin_config.AddLine('tslua.so {}/global.lua'.format(Test.RunDirectory))
 
 ts.Disk.records_config.update({
     'proxy.config.diags.debug.enabled': 1,
@@ -67,36 +76,28 @@
 ps.Env = ts.Env
 ps.ReturnCode = 0
 ps.Streams.stdout.Content = Testers.ContainsExpression("proxy.config.plugin.lua.max_states: 4", "expected 4 states")
-tr.TimeOut = 5
 tr.StillRunningAfter = ts
 
 # 1 Test - Exercise lua script
 tr = Test.AddTestRun("Lua hello")
 ps = tr.Processes.Default  # alias
 ps.Command = curl_and_args + ' http://hello/hello'
-ps.TimeOut = 5
 ps.ReturnCode = 0
 ps.Streams.stderr.Content = Testers.ContainsExpression("Hello, World", "hello world content")
-tr.TimeOut = 5
 tr.StillRunningAfter = ts
 
 # 2 Test - Check for metrics
 tr = Test.AddTestRun("Check for metrics")
-tr.DelayStart = 15  # 5s lag on metrics to update
-tr.TimeOut = 5
 ps = tr.Processes.Default  # alias
-ps.Env = ts.Env
-ps.Command = "traffic_ctl metric match lua"
+ps.Command = "bash -c ./metrics.sh"
 ps.Env = ts.Env
 ps.ReturnCode = 0
-ps.Streams.stdout = "gold/metrics.stdout.gold"
 tr.StillRunningAfter = ts
 
 # 3 Test - Check for developer lifecycle stats
 tr = Test.AddTestRun("Check for lifecycle stats")
 ps = tr.Processes.Default  # alias
-ps.Command = "traffic_ctl plugin msg ts_lua print_stats"
+ps.Command = "bash -c ./lifecycle_stats.sh"
 ps.Env = ts.Env
 ps.ReturnCode = 0
-ts.Streams.stderr = "gold/lifecycle.stderr.gold"
 tr.StillRunningAfter = ts
diff --git a/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/metrics.sh b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/metrics.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..6aec5bc03b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/gold_tests/pluginTest/lua/metrics.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+#  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+#  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+#  distributed with this work for additional information
+#  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+#  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+#  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+#  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+#  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+#  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+#  limitations under the License.
+
+N=60
+while (( N > 0 ))
+do
+    rm -f metrics.out metrics.txt
+    traffic_ctl metric match lua > metrics.out
+    sleep 1
+    sed 's/ [0-9][0-9]*//' metrics.out > metrics.txt
+    if diff metrics.txt ${AUTEST_TEST_DIR}/gold/metrics.gold
+    then
+        exit 0
+    fi
+    let N=N-1
+done
+echo TIMEOUT
+exit 1