diff --git a/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/bus_test.go b/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/bus_test.go
index c1458d38..77bc463a 100644
--- a/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/bus_test.go
+++ b/modules/mesh-delivery-gate/cmd/mesh-delivery-gate/bus_test.go
@@ -944,8 +944,7 @@ func mustDecode[T any](t *testing.T, raw []byte) T {
 }
 
 // eventWithin is how long a test waits for one step of the gate's path over the real bus. On an idle machine each step
-// takes milliseconds (the tests log it), but the build node runs the whole group's checks at once, and a step that
-// fails its first try (a key rewritten under it, a request that timed out) is tried again by the gate only after
-// retryFirst (10 s, effects.go), which the test cannot shorten without changing production code. 20 s covers that one
-// retry plus the load; "within seconds" stays true and a stuck path still fails (issue 1404).
+// takes milliseconds (the tests log it), but a slow, loaded build node ran the ask step in 6.69 s against the old 5 s
+// (issue 1404). A failed first ask is asked again only after askAgainAfter (30 s, react.go), and 20 s deliberately does not
+// cover that: a failed first ask still fails the test.
 const eventWithin = 20 * time.Second