diff --git a/system-test/read-rows.ts b/system-test/read-rows.ts
index 2da201974..37beab74c 100644
--- a/system-test/read-rows.ts
+++ b/system-test/read-rows.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import {describe, it, afterEach, beforeEach} from 'mocha';
 import * as sinon from 'sinon';
 import {EventEmitter} from 'events';
 import {Test} from './testTypes';
-import {ServiceError, GrpcClient, GoogleError} from 'google-gax';
+import {ServiceError, GrpcClient, GoogleError, CallOptions} from 'google-gax';
 import {PassThrough} from 'stream';
 
 const {grpc} = new GrpcClient();
@@ -96,7 +96,15 @@ describe('Bigtable/Table', () => {
         },
       });
       await operation.promise();
-      await table.create({});
+      const gaxOptions: CallOptions = {
+        retry: {
+          retryCodes: [grpc.status.DEADLINE_EXCEEDED, grpc.status.NOT_FOUND],
+        },
+        maxRetries: 10,
+      };
+      await table.create({
+        gaxOptions,
+      });
       await table.getRows(); // This is done to initialize the data client
       await bigtable.close();
       try {