diff --git a/tests/test_nginx.py b/tests/test_nginx.py
index 76bb5278..aba1129c 100644
--- a/tests/test_nginx.py
+++ b/tests/test_nginx.py
@@ -1,15 +1,27 @@
 """This module contains the tests for the nginx container, the image with nginx pre-installed.
 """
-from bci_tester.data import NGINX_CONTAINER
+import requests
+from tenacity import retry
+from tenacity import stop_after_attempt
+from tenacity import wait_exponential
 
+from bci_tester.data import NGINX_CONTAINER
 
 CONTAINER_IMAGES = (NGINX_CONTAINER,)
 
 
-def test_nginx_welcome_page(auto_container, host):
+def test_nginx_welcome_page(auto_container):
     """test that the default welcome page is served by the container."""
     host_port = auto_container.forwarded_ports[0].host_port
 
-    assert "Welcome to nginx" in host.check_output(
-        f"curl -sf --retry 5 --retry-connrefused http://localhost:{host_port}/"
+    # Retry 5 times with exponential backoff delay
+    @retry(
+        wait=wait_exponential(multiplier=1, min=4, max=10),
+        stop=stop_after_attempt(5),
     )
+    def check_nginx_response():
+        resp = requests.get(f"http://localhost:{host_port}/", timeout=30)
+        resp.raise_for_status()
+        assert "Welcome to nginx" in resp.text
+
+    check_nginx_response()
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 290d1370..3331e91e 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ deps =
     dataclasses ; python_version < "3.7"
     pytest-rerunfailures
     typing_extensions
+    requests
+    tenacity
     git+https://github.com/dcermak/pytest_container
     doc: Sphinx