diff --git a/tests/cluster/cluster.tcl b/tests/cluster/cluster.tcl
index 824f3a80..a7d71ab4 100644
--- a/tests/cluster/cluster.tcl
+++ b/tests/cluster/cluster.tcl
@@ -61,3 +61,15 @@ proc cluster_allocate_slots {n} {
         R $j cluster addslots {*}[set slots_${j}]
     }
 }
+
+# Check that cluster nodes agree about "state", or raise an error.
+proc assert_cluster_state {state} {
+    foreach_redis_id id {
+        if {[instance_is_killed redis $id]} continue
+        wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
+            [CI $id cluster_state] eq $state
+        } else {
+            fail "Cluster node $id cluster_state:[CI $id cluster_state]"
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/cluster/tests/00-base.tcl b/tests/cluster/tests/00-base.tcl
index c3badb9b..5048aa23 100644
--- a/tests/cluster/tests/00-base.tcl
+++ b/tests/cluster/tests/00-base.tcl
@@ -52,9 +52,7 @@ test "Check if nodes auto-discovery works" {
 }
 
 test "Before slots allocation, all nodes report cluster failure" {
-    foreach_redis_id id {
-        assert {[CI $id cluster_state] eq {fail}}
-    }
+    assert_cluster_state fail
 }
 
 test "It is possible to perform slot allocation" {
@@ -86,13 +84,7 @@ test "After the join, every node gets a different config epoch" {
 }
 
 test "Nodes should report cluster_state is ok now" {
-    foreach_redis_id id {
-        wait_for_condition 1000 50 {
-            [CI $id cluster_state] eq {ok}
-        } else {
-            fail "Cluster node $id cluster_state:[CI $id cluster_state]"
-        }
-    }
+    assert_cluster_state ok
 }
 
 test "It is possible to write and read from the cluster" {