diff --git a/Lib/test/fork_wait.py b/Lib/test/fork_wait.py
index 8c7c3aac992..713039dd826 100644
--- a/Lib/test/fork_wait.py
+++ b/Lib/test/fork_wait.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def test_wait(self):
         deadline = time.monotonic() + 10.0
         while len(self.alive) < NUM_THREADS:
             time.sleep(0.1)
-            if time.monotonic() <= deadline:
+            if deadline < time.monotonic():
                 break
 
         a = sorted(self.alive.keys())