diff --git a/dataflow/run_template/main_test.py b/dataflow/run_template/main_test.py
index 07dc903dde2a..413f98917558 100644
--- a/dataflow/run_template/main_test.py
+++ b/dataflow/run_template/main_test.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import os
 import pytest
 import time
+import uuid
 
 from datetime import datetime
 from googleapiclient.discovery import build
@@ -41,9 +42,14 @@ def app():
     return flask.Flask(__name__)
 
 
+def unique_job_name(label):
+    return datetime.now().strftime('{}-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S-{}'.format(
+        label, uuid.uuid4().hex))
+
+
 def test_run_template_python_empty_args(app):
     project = PROJECT
-    job = datetime.now().strftime('test_run_template_python-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S')
+    job = unique_job_name('test_run_template_empty')
     template = 'gs://dataflow-templates/latest/Word_Count'
     with pytest.raises(HttpError):
         main.run(project, job, template)
@@ -51,7 +57,7 @@ def test_run_template_python_empty_args(app):
 
 def test_run_template_python(app):
     project = PROJECT
-    job = datetime.now().strftime('test_run_template_python-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S')
+    job = unique_job_name('test_run_template_python')
     template = 'gs://dataflow-templates/latest/Word_Count'
     parameters = {
         'inputFile': 'gs://apache-beam-samples/shakespeare/kinglear.txt',
@@ -70,7 +76,7 @@ def test_run_template_http_empty_args(app):
 def test_run_template_http_url(app):
     args = {
         'project': PROJECT,
-        'job': datetime.now().strftime('test_run_template_url-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S'),
+        'job': unique_job_name('test_run_template_url'),
         'template': 'gs://dataflow-templates/latest/Word_Count',
         'inputFile': 'gs://apache-beam-samples/shakespeare/kinglear.txt',
         'output': 'gs://{}/dataflow/wordcount/outputs'.format(BUCKET),
@@ -84,7 +90,7 @@ def test_run_template_http_url(app):
 def test_run_template_http_data(app):
     args = {
         'project': PROJECT,
-        'job': datetime.now().strftime('test_run_template_data-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S'),
+        'job': unique_job_name('test_run_template_data'),
         'template': 'gs://dataflow-templates/latest/Word_Count',
         'inputFile': 'gs://apache-beam-samples/shakespeare/kinglear.txt',
         'output': 'gs://{}/dataflow/wordcount/outputs'.format(BUCKET),
@@ -98,7 +104,7 @@ def test_run_template_http_data(app):
 def test_run_template_http_json(app):
     args = {
         'project': PROJECT,
-        'job': datetime.now().strftime('test_run_template_json-%Y%m%d-%H%M%S'),
+        'job': unique_job_name('test_run_template_json'),
         'template': 'gs://dataflow-templates/latest/Word_Count',
         'inputFile': 'gs://apache-beam-samples/shakespeare/kinglear.txt',
         'output': 'gs://{}/dataflow/wordcount/outputs'.format(BUCKET),
@@ -110,9 +116,17 @@ def test_run_template_http_json(app):
 
 
 def dataflow_jobs_cancel(job_id):
-    # Wait time until a job can be cancelled, as a best effort.
-    # If it fails to be cancelled, the job will run for ~8 minutes.
-    time.sleep(5)  # seconds
+    # Wait time until the job can be cancelled.
+    state = None
+    while state != 'JOB_STATE_RUNNING':
+        job = dataflow.projects().jobs().get(
+            projectId=PROJECT,
+            jobId=job_id
+        ).execute()
+        state = job['currentState']
+        time.sleep(1)
+
+    # Cancel the Dataflow job.
     request = dataflow.projects().jobs().update(
         projectId=PROJECT,
         jobId=job_id,