diff --git a/test/jdk/sun/tools/jhsdb/JShellHeapDumpTest.java b/test/jdk/sun/tools/jhsdb/JShellHeapDumpTest.java
index 7ca36d40a6f..9e9a6c79c7b 100644
--- a/test/jdk/sun/tools/jhsdb/JShellHeapDumpTest.java
+++ b/test/jdk/sun/tools/jhsdb/JShellHeapDumpTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2019, 2023, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2019, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
  *
  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ public class JShellHeapDumpTest {
     static Process jShellProcess;
     static boolean doSleep = true; // By default do a short sleep when app starts up
 
-    public static void launch(String expectedMessage, List<String> toolArgs)
+    // Returns false if the attempt should be retried.
+    public static boolean launch(String expectedMessage, List<String> toolArgs, boolean allowRetry)
         throws IOException {
 
         try {
@@ -81,6 +82,10 @@ public class JShellHeapDumpTest {
             System.out.println("###### End of all output which took " + elapsedTime + "ms");
             output.shouldHaveExitValue(0);
         } catch (Exception ex) {
+            if (allowRetry) {
+                System.out.println("Exception " + ex + " in 'launch' occured. Allow one retry.");
+                return false;
+            }
             throw new RuntimeException("Test ERROR " + ex, ex);
         } finally {
             if (jShellProcess.isAlive()) {
@@ -91,12 +96,18 @@ public class JShellHeapDumpTest {
                 System.out.println("Jshell not alive");
             }
         }
+        return true;
     }
 
     public static void launch(String expectedMessage, String... toolArgs)
         throws IOException {
 
-        launch(expectedMessage, Arrays.asList(toolArgs));
+        boolean res = launch(expectedMessage, Arrays.asList(toolArgs), true);
+        // Allow a retry for !doSleep, because the sleep allows the debuggee to stabilize,
+        // making it very unlikely that jmap will fail.
+        if (!res && !doSleep) {
+            launch(expectedMessage, Arrays.asList(toolArgs), false);
+        }
     }
 
     /* Returns false if the attempt should be retried. */