diff --git a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/gcc.py b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/gcc.py
index 4cc0894d42..1bda29a72b 100644
--- a/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/gcc.py
+++ b/meta/lib/oeqa/selftest/cases/gcc.py
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ class GccSelfTestBase(OESelftestTestCase, OEPTestResultTestCase):
             # validate that SSH is working
             status, _ = qemu.run("uname")
             self.assertEqual(status, 0)
+            qemu.run('echo "MaxStartups 75:30:100" >> /etc/ssh/sshd_config')
+            qemu.run('service sshd restart')
 
             return self.run_check(*args, ssh=qemu.ip, **kwargs)