diff --git a/test/cluster/test_size_based_load_balancing.py b/test/cluster/test_size_based_load_balancing.py
index ace6d87792..1a64b91d01 100644
--- a/test/cluster/test_size_based_load_balancing.py
+++ b/test/cluster/test_size_based_load_balancing.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-ScyllaDB-Source-Available-1.0
 #
 from test.pylib.manager_client import ManagerClient
+from test.pylib.rest_client import read_barrier
 from test.cluster.util import new_test_keyspace
 from collections import defaultdict
 import pytest
@@ -54,6 +55,9 @@ async def test_balance_empty_tablets(manager: ManagerClient):
 
         await manager.api.quiesce_topology(servers[0].ip_addr)
 
+        # Ensure all nodes see the same data in system.tablets
+        await asyncio.gather(*[read_barrier(manager.api, s.ip_addr) for s in servers])
+
         replicas_per_node = defaultdict(int)
         tablets_per_shard = {}
         for row in await cql.run_async('SELECT * FROM system.tablets'):