diff --git a/playbooks/test-review.yaml b/playbooks/test-review.yaml
index a90dbdbf0f..97c291d917 100644
--- a/playbooks/test-review.yaml
+++ b/playbooks/test-review.yaml
@@ -252,13 +252,20 @@
         - 2
         - 3
 
+    # NOTE(ianw) we do an add/delete/add cycle as we've seen issues
+    # with duplicate updates causing problems before; e.g.
+    #  https://gerrit-review.googlesource.com/c/gerrit/+/312602
     - name: Post a file review to confirm accountPatchDb connection
       uri:
         url: 'http://localhost:8081/a/changes/y%2Ftestproject~1/revisions/1/files/file-1.txt/reviewed'
-        method: PUT
+        method: '{{ item[0] }}'
         user: admin
         password: secret
-        status_code: 201
+        status_code: '{{ item[1] }}'
+      loop:
+        - [ PUT, 201 ]
+        - [ DELETE, 204 ]
+        - [ PUT, 201 ]
 
     - name: Run selenium container
       include_role: