diff --git a/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila/tests.py b/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila/tests.py
index 262673220..99e45eba6 100644
--- a/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila/tests.py
+++ b/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila/tests.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 """Encapsulate Manila testing."""
 
+import json
 import logging
 import tenacity
 
@@ -352,21 +353,81 @@ def _restart_share_instance(self):
         """
         return False
 
-    def _wait_for_ceph_healthy(self):
+    def _make_ceph_healthy(self, model_name=None):
+        """Force ceph into a healthy status."""
+        # wait for 30 seconds for self to get healthy
+        healthy, ceph_status = self._wait_for_ceph_fs_healthy(
+            repeat=6, interval=5, model_name=None)
+        if healthy:
+            return
+        logging.info("Ceph is not healthy: %s", ceph_status)
+        # evict any clients.
+        self._evict_ceph_mds_clients(model_name)
+        self._restart_share_instance()
+        healthy, ceph_status = self._wait_for_ceph_fs_healthy(
+            repeat=10, interval=15, model_name=None)
+
+    def _wait_for_ceph_fs_healthy(
+            self, repeat=30, interval=20, model_name=None):
         """Wait until the ceph health is healthy."""
-        logging.info("Waiting for ceph to be healthy")
-        for attempt in tenacity.Retrying(
-            wait=tenacity.wait_fixed(5),
-            stop=tenacity.stop_after_attempt(10),
-            reraise=True
-        ):
-            logging.info("... testing Ceph")
-            with attempt:
-                self.assertEqual(
-                    zaza.model.run_on_leader(
-                        "ceph-mon", "sudo ceph health")["Code"],
-                    "0")
-        logging.info("...Ceph is healthy")
+        logging.info("Waiting for ceph to be healthy - up to 10 minutes")
+        try:
+            for attempt in tenacity.Retrying(
+                wait=tenacity.wait_fixed(interval),
+                stop=tenacity.stop_after_attempt(repeat),
+                reraise=True,
+            ):
+                logging.info("... checking Ceph")
+                with attempt:
+                    healthy, ceph_status = self._check_ceph_fs_health(
+                        model_name)
+                    if not healthy:
+                        raise RuntimeError("Ceph was unhealthy: {}"
+                                           .format(ceph_status))
+        except RuntimeError:
+            # we are only retrying for the retries, not to raise an exception.
+            pass
+        if healthy:
+            logging.info("...Ceph is healthy")
+        else:
+            logging.info("...Ceph is not healthy %s", ceph_status)
+        return healthy, ceph_status
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _check_ceph_fs_health(model_name=None):
+        """Check to see if the ceph fs system is healthy."""
+        cmd_result = zaza.model.run_on_leader(
+            "ceph-mon",
+            "sudo ceph status --format=json",
+            model_name=model_name)
+        status = json.loads(cmd_result['Stdout'])
+        ceph_status = status['health']['status']
+        return (ceph_status == "HEALTH_OK"), ceph_status
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _evict_ceph_mds_clients(model_name=None):
+        """Evict and ceph mds clients present.
+
+        Essentially work around a manila-ganesha deployment bug:
+        https://bugs.launchpad.net/charm-manila-ganesha/+bug/2073498
+        """
+        # NOTE:evicting a client adds them to the mds blocklist; this shouldn't
+        # matter for the ephemeral nature of the test.
+        # get the list of clients.
+        cmd_results = zaza.model.run_on_leader(
+            "ceph-mon", "sudo ceph tell mds.0 client ls",
+            model_name=model_name)
+        result = json.loads(cmd_results['Stdout'])
+        client_ids = [client['id'] for client in result]
+        logging.info("Evicting clients %s", ", ".join(
+            str(c) for c in client_ids))
+        # now evict the clients.
+        for client in client_ids:
+            logging.info("Evicting client %s", client)
+            zaza.model.run_on_leader(
+                "ceph-mon",
+                "sudo ceph tell mds.0 client evict id={}".format(client),
+                model_name=model_name)
 
     def test_manila_share(self):
         """Test that a Manila share can be accessed on two instances.
@@ -392,9 +453,12 @@ def test_manila_share(self):
         fip_2 = neutron_tests.floating_ips_from_instance(instance_2)[0]
 
         # force a restart to clear out any clients that may be hanging around
-        # due to restarts on manila-ganesha during deployment.
+        # due to restarts on manila-ganesha during deployment; this also forces
+        # an HA manila into a stable state.
         self._restart_share_instance()
-        self._wait_for_ceph_healthy()
+        # Clean out any old clients causes by restarting manila-ganesha shares
+        # and ganesha.nfsd daemons.
+        self._make_ceph_healthy()
         # Create a share
         share = self.manila_client.shares.create(
             share_type=self.share_type_name,
diff --git a/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila_ganesha/tests.py b/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila_ganesha/tests.py
index d5c934a6b..6a028173c 100644
--- a/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila_ganesha/tests.py
+++ b/zaza/openstack/charm_tests/manila_ganesha/tests.py
@@ -70,11 +70,15 @@ def _restart_share_instance(self):
                     # everywhere isn't harmful. Pacemaker handles restarting
                     # the services
                     logging.info(
-                        "For %s, running systemctl stop manila-share "
-                        "nfs-ganesha", unit.entity_id)
+                        "For %s, running systemctl stop manila-share, "
+                        "kill -HUP pidof ganesha.nfsd", unit.entity_id)
+                    zaza.model.run_on_unit(
+                        unit.entity_id,
+                        "systemctl stop manila-share")
                     zaza.model.run_on_unit(
                         unit.entity_id,
-                        "systemctl stop manila-share nfs-ganesha")
+                        'pidof ganesha.nfsd && '
+                        'kill -HUP $(pidof ganesha.nfsd)')
                 else:
                     logging.info(
                         "For %s, running systemctl restart manila-share "