diff --git a/distributed/tests/test_stress.py b/distributed/tests/test_stress.py
index e47ec84225e..0e6cd66fa19 100644
--- a/distributed/tests/test_stress.py
+++ b/distributed/tests/test_stress.py
@@ -85,6 +85,9 @@ def test_cancel_stress_sync(loop):
                 c.cancel(f)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.xfail(
+    reason="Flaky and re-fails on rerun. See https://github.com/dask/distributed/issues/5388"
+)
 @pytest.mark.slow
 @gen_cluster(
     nthreads=[],