diff --git a/.github/workflows/checks.yml b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
index c8c6000a9..804b76c63 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
@@ -119,8 +119,7 @@ jobs:
           curl --fail -v https://notify-api-staging.app.cloud.gov || exit 1
       - name: Run Admin server
         run: |
-          make run-flask | tee admin-server.log &
-          wait $!
+          make run-flask > admin-server.log 2>&1 &
         env:
           API_HOST_NAME: https://notify-api-staging.app.cloud.gov/
           # API_HOST_NAME: http://localhost:6011
@@ -133,6 +132,15 @@ jobs:
           NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_EMAIL: ${{ secrets.NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_EMAIL }}
           NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_PASSWORD }}
           NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_URI: http://localhost:6012/
+      - name: Tail Admin Server logs
+        run: |
+          tail -f admin-server.log &
+      - name: Ensure Admin Server is running
+        run: |
+          until curl -s http://localhost:6012; do
+            echo "waiting for admin server to start..."
+            sleep 2
+          done
       - name: Run E2E tests
         # Run the E2E tests against the code found in this PR.
         # run: poetry run pytest -v --browser chromium --browser firefox --browser webkit tests/end_to_end