diff --git a/dataproc/snippets/submit_job_test.py b/dataproc/snippets/submit_job_test.py
index fb48489609c..06a4f5382c9 100644
--- a/dataproc/snippets/submit_job_test.py
+++ b/dataproc/snippets/submit_job_test.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 import uuid
 
 import backoff
-from google.api_core.exceptions import (InternalServerError, NotFound,
+from google.api_core.exceptions import (AlreadyExists, InternalServerError, NotFound,
                                         ServiceUnavailable)
 from google.cloud import dataproc_v1 as dataproc
 import pytest
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ def cluster_name(cluster_client):
     try:
         setup_cluster(cluster_client, curr_cluster_name)
         yield curr_cluster_name
+    except AlreadyExists:  # 409 can happen when we backoff on service errors during submission
+        print("Already exists, skipping cluster creation")
+        yield curr_cluster_name
     finally:
         teardown_cluster(cluster_client, curr_cluster_name)