diff --git a/mobile/android/base/tests/BaseTest.java b/mobile/android/base/tests/BaseTest.java
index 43c1a03d7603..6d4f018d8de7 100644
--- a/mobile/android/base/tests/BaseTest.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/tests/BaseTest.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ import android.widget.TextView;
 
 import com.jayway.android.robotium.solo.Condition;
 import com.jayway.android.robotium.solo.Solo;
+import com.jayway.android.robotium.solo.Timeout;
 
 /**
  *  A convenient base class suitable for most Robocop tests.
@@ -396,8 +397,17 @@ abstract class BaseTest extends BaseRobocopTest {
         return assets.open(filename);
     }
 
-    public boolean waitForText(String text) {
-        boolean rc = mSolo.waitForText(text);
+    public boolean waitForText(final String text) {
+        // false is the default value for finding only
+        // visible views in `Solo.waitForText(String)`.
+        return waitForText(text, false);
+    }
+
+    public boolean waitForText(final String text, final boolean onlyVisibleViews) {
+        // We use the default robotium values from
+        // `Waiter.waitForText(String)` for unspecified arguments.
+        final boolean rc =
+                mSolo.waitForText(text, 0, Timeout.getLargeTimeout(), true, onlyVisibleViews);
         if (!rc) {
             // log out failed wait for diagnostic purposes only;
             // waitForText failures are sometimes expected/normal
@@ -459,7 +469,7 @@ abstract class BaseTest extends BaseRobocopTest {
     }
 
 
-    /** 
+    /**
      * Select <item> from Menu > "Settings" > <section>.
      */
     public void selectSettingsItem(String section, String item) {
@@ -489,7 +499,7 @@ abstract class BaseTest extends BaseRobocopTest {
         // build the item name ready to be used
         String itemName = "^" + menuItemName + "$";
         mActions.sendSpecialKey(Actions.SpecialKey.MENU);
-        if (waitForText(itemName)) {
+        if (waitForText(itemName, true)) {
             mSolo.clickOnText(itemName);
         } else {
             // Older versions of Android have additional settings under "More",
@@ -948,7 +958,7 @@ abstract class BaseTest extends BaseRobocopTest {
     public void setPreferenceAndWaitForChange(final JSONObject jsonPref) {
         mActions.sendGeckoEvent("Preferences:Set", jsonPref.toString());
 
-        // Get the preference name from the json and store it in an array. This array 
+        // Get the preference name from the json and store it in an array. This array
         // will be used later while fetching the preference data.
         String[] prefNames = new String[1];
         try {