diff --git a/system_tests/monitoring.py b/system_tests/monitoring.py
index 0673251f1769..61edc5db74cf 100644
--- a/system_tests/monitoring.py
+++ b/system_tests/monitoring.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 from gcloud import _helpers
 from gcloud.environment_vars import TESTS_PROJECT
+from gcloud.exceptions import InternalServerError
 from gcloud.exceptions import NotFound
 from gcloud.exceptions import ServiceUnavailable
 from gcloud import monitoring
@@ -24,6 +25,8 @@
 from system_test_utils import unique_resource_id
 
 retry_404 = RetryErrors(NotFound)
+retry_404_500 = RetryErrors((NotFound, InternalServerError))
+retry_500 = RetryErrors(InternalServerError)
 retry_503 = RetryErrors(ServiceUnavailable)
 
 
@@ -176,8 +179,8 @@ def test_create_and_delete_metric_descriptor(self):
             description=DESCRIPTION,
         )
 
-        descriptor.create()
-        retry_404(descriptor.delete)()
+        retry_500(descriptor.create())
+        retry_404_500(descriptor.delete)()
 
         with self.assertRaises(NotFound):
             descriptor.delete()