diff --git a/system-test/automation_utils.sh b/system-test/automation_utils.sh
index a08f07576a3435..f4a8d405611659 100755
--- a/system-test/automation_utils.sh
+++ b/system-test/automation_utils.sh
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ function get_validator_confirmation_time {
       curl -G "${INFLUX_HOST}/query?u=ro&p=topsecret" \
         --data-urlencode "db=${TESTNET_TAG}" \
         --data-urlencode "q=$q_mean_confirmation" |
-      python3 "${REPO_ROOT}"/system-test/testnet-automation-json-parser.py |
+      python3 "${REPO_ROOT}"/system-test/testnet-automation-json-parser.py --empty_error |
       cut -d' ' -f2)
 }
 
diff --git a/system-test/partition-testcases/gce-partition-recovery.yml b/system-test/partition-testcases/gce-partition-recovery.yml
index bd610d6a6d2125..2463ef6018c2b3 100755
--- a/system-test/partition-testcases/gce-partition-recovery.yml
+++ b/system-test/partition-testcases/gce-partition-recovery.yml
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@ steps:
   - command: "system-test/testnet-automation.sh"
     label: "Partition recovery on GCE"
     env:
-      UPLOAD_RESULTS_TO_SLACK: "false"
+      UPLOAD_RESULTS_TO_SLACK: "true"
       CLOUD_PROVIDER: "gce"
       ENABLE_GPU: "false"
-      NUMBER_OF_VALIDATOR_NODES: 4
+      NUMBER_OF_VALIDATOR_NODES: 9
       VALIDATOR_NODE_MACHINE_TYPE: "--machine-type n1-standard-16"
       NUMBER_OF_CLIENT_NODES: 1
       ADDITIONAL_FLAGS: "--dedicated"
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ steps:
       TEST_TYPE: "script"
       WARMUP_SLOTS_BEFORE_TEST: 400
       PRE_PARTITION_DURATION: 120
-      PARTITION_DURATION: 600
-      PARTITION_INCREMENT: 120
+      PARTITION_DURATION: 360
+      PARTITION_INCREMENT: 60
       NETEM_CONFIG_FILE: "system-test/netem-configs/complete-loss-two-partitions"
       CUSTOM_SCRIPT: "system-test/partition-testcases/measure-partition-recovery.sh"
     agents:
diff --git a/system-test/partition-testcases/measure-partition-recovery.sh b/system-test/partition-testcases/measure-partition-recovery.sh
index 03ff1995ac06f5..3c1df03bdef9c2 100755
--- a/system-test/partition-testcases/measure-partition-recovery.sh
+++ b/system-test/partition-testcases/measure-partition-recovery.sh
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ target=$mean_confirmation_ms
 
 while true; do
   execution_step "Applying partition config $NETEM_CONFIG_FILE for $PARTITION_DURATION seconds"
+  echo "Partitioning for $PARTITION_DURATION seconds" >> "$RESULT_FILE"
   "${REPO_ROOT}"/net/net.sh netem --config-file "$NETEM_CONFIG_FILE" -n $num_online_nodes
   sleep "$PARTITION_DURATION"
 
@@ -49,21 +50,32 @@ while true; do
   "${REPO_ROOT}"/net/net.sh netem --config-file "$NETEM_CONFIG_FILE" --netem-cmd cleanup -n $num_online_nodes
 
   get_validator_confirmation_time 10
-  time=0
-  echo "Validator confirmation is $mean_confirmation_ms ms immediately after resolving the partition"
+  SECONDS=0
 
-  while [[ $mean_confirmation_ms == "expected" || $mean_confirmation_ms -gt $target ]]; do
-    sleep 1
-    time=$(( time + 1 ))
+  # This happens when we haven't confirmed anything recently so the query returns an empty string
+  while [[ -z $mean_confirmation_ms ]]; do
+    sleep 5
+    get_validator_confirmation_time 10
+    if [[ $SECONDS -gt $PARTITION_DURATION ]]; then
+      echo "  No confirmations seen after $SECONDS seconds" >> "$RESULT_FILE"
+      exit 0
+    fi
+  done
+  echo "  Validator confirmation is $mean_confirmation_ms ms $SECONDS seconds after resolving the partition" >> "$RESULT_FILE"
+
+  last=""
+  while [[ -z $mean_confirmation_ms || $mean_confirmation_ms -gt $target ]]; do
+    sleep 5
 
-    if [[ $time -gt $PARTITION_DURATION ]]; then
-      echo "Partition Duration: $PARTITION_DURATION: Unable to make progress after $time seconds. Confirmation time did not fall below pre partition confirmation time" >> "$RESULT_FILE"
+    if [[ -n $mean_confirmation_ms && -n $last && $mean_confirmation_ms -gt $(echo "$last * 1.2" | bc) || $SECONDS -gt $PARTITION_DURATION ]]; then
+      echo "  Unable to make progress after $SECONDS seconds. Last confirmation time was $mean_confirmation_ms ms" >> "$RESULT_FILE"
       exit 0
     fi
+    last=$mean_confirmation_ms
     get_validator_confirmation_time 10
   done
 
-  echo "Partition Duration: $PARTITION: $time seconds for validator confirmation to fall to $mean_confirmation_ms ms" >> "$RESULT_FILE"
+  echo "  Recovered in $SECONDS seconds: validator confirmation to fall to $mean_confirmation_ms ms" >> "$RESULT_FILE"
 
   PARTITION_DURATION=$(( PARTITION_DURATION + PARTITION_INCREMENT ))
 done
diff --git a/system-test/testnet-automation-json-parser.py b/system-test/testnet-automation-json-parser.py
index 10f82b13e60df7..37959b025855b0 100755
--- a/system-test/testnet-automation-json-parser.py
+++ b/system-test/testnet-automation-json-parser.py
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-import sys, json
+import sys, json, argparse
+
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+parser.add_argument("--empty_error", action="store_true", help="If present, do not print error message")
+args = parser.parse_args()
 
 data=json.load(sys.stdin)
 
@@ -7,7 +11,7 @@
    for result in data['results']:
       if 'series' in result:
          print(result['series'][0]['columns'][1] + ': ' + str(result['series'][0]['values'][0][1]))
-      else:
+      elif not args.empty_error:
          print("An expected result from CURL request is missing")
-else:
+elif not args.empty_error:
    print("No results returned from CURL request")