diff --git a/tokio/tests/rt_unstable_metrics.rs b/tokio/tests/rt_unstable_metrics.rs
index bfe3d7f2a68..6e3e97f1df4 100644
--- a/tokio/tests/rt_unstable_metrics.rs
+++ b/tokio/tests/rt_unstable_metrics.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 ))]
 
 use std::future::Future;
-use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
+use std::sync::{mpsc, Arc, Mutex};
 use std::task::Poll;
 use std::thread;
 use tokio::macros::support::poll_fn;
@@ -295,42 +295,34 @@ fn worker_noop_count() {
 }
 
 #[test]
-#[ignore] // this test is flaky, see https://github.com/tokio-rs/tokio/issues/6470
 fn worker_steal_count() {
     // This metric only applies to the multi-threaded runtime.
-    //
-    // We use a blocking channel to backup one worker thread.
-    use std::sync::mpsc::channel;
-
-    let rt = threaded_no_lifo();
-    let metrics = rt.metrics();
-
-    rt.block_on(async {
-        let (tx, rx) = channel();
+    for _ in 0..10 {
+        let rt = threaded_no_lifo();
+        let metrics = rt.metrics();
 
-        // Move to the runtime.
-        tokio::spawn(async move {
-            // Spawn the task that sends to the channel
-            //
-            // Since the lifo slot is disabled, this task is stealable.
-            tokio::spawn(async move {
-                tx.send(()).unwrap();
-            });
+        let successfully_spawned_stealable_task = rt.block_on(async {
+            // The call to `try_spawn_stealable_task` may time out, which means
+            // that the sending task couldn't be scheduled due to a deadlock in
+            // the runtime.
+            // This is expected behaviour, we just retry until we succeed or
+            // exhaust all tries, the latter causing this test to fail.
+            try_spawn_stealable_task().await.is_ok()
+        });
 
-            // Blocking receive on the channel.
-            rx.recv().unwrap();
-        })
-        .await
-        .unwrap();
-    });
+        drop(rt);
 
-    drop(rt);
+        if successfully_spawned_stealable_task {
+            let n: u64 = (0..metrics.num_workers())
+                .map(|i| metrics.worker_steal_count(i))
+                .sum();
 
-    let n: u64 = (0..metrics.num_workers())
-        .map(|i| metrics.worker_steal_count(i))
-        .sum();
+            assert_eq!(1, n);
+            return;
+        }
+    }
 
-    assert_eq!(1, n);
+    panic!("exhausted every try to schedule the stealable task");
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -835,6 +827,30 @@ fn io_driver_ready_count() {
     assert_eq!(metrics.io_driver_ready_count(), 1);
 }
 
+async fn try_spawn_stealable_task() -> Result<(), mpsc::RecvTimeoutError> {
+    // We use a blocking channel to synchronize the tasks.
+    let (tx, rx) = mpsc::channel();
+
+    // Make sure we are in the context of the runtime.
+    tokio::spawn(async move {
+        // Spawn the task that sends to the channel.
+        //
+        // Note that the runtime needs to have the lifo slot disabled to make
+        // this task stealable.
+        tokio::spawn(async move {
+            tx.send(()).unwrap();
+        });
+
+        // Blocking receive on the channel, timing out if the sending task
+        // wasn't scheduled in time.
+        rx.recv_timeout(Duration::from_secs(1))
+    })
+    .await
+    .unwrap()?;
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 fn current_thread() -> Runtime {
     tokio::runtime::Builder::new_current_thread()
         .enable_all()