diff --git a/admin/tool/behat/tests/behat/keyboard.feature b/admin/tool/behat/tests/behat/keyboard.feature
index ca9a74f02f3..76fc62c5c79 100644
--- a/admin/tool/behat/tests/behat/keyboard.feature
+++ b/admin/tool/behat/tests/behat/keyboard.feature
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ Feature: Verify that keyboard steps work as expected
       | saffronr | saffron.rutledge@example.com | Saffron   | Rutledge |
     And I log in as "saffronr"
     And I click on "Saffron Rutledge" "link" in the ".usermenu" "css_element"
+    # The version of Boost used in Moodle 3.5 does not have any pendingJS checks and it is not possible to add them.
+    # We need to use the poor-person's alternative and fall back to a short wait to allow the menu to open before
+    # interacting with it.
+    # This may still allow for failures on extremely slow systems but the risk is extremely minimal.
+    And I wait "1" seconds
     When I press the up key
     Then the focused element is "Log out" "link"
 
diff --git a/lib/behat/form_field/behat_form_autocomplete.php b/lib/behat/form_field/behat_form_autocomplete.php
index 238bbeecc35..d6b29c20fac 100644
--- a/lib/behat/form_field/behat_form_autocomplete.php
+++ b/lib/behat/form_field/behat_form_autocomplete.php
@@ -82,8 +82,9 @@ class behat_form_autocomplete extends behat_form_text {
             }
             $this->wait_for_pending_js();
 
-            // Press the escape to close the autocomplete suggestions list.
-            behat_base::type_keys($this->session, [behat_keys::ESCAPE]);
+            // Note: This does not make use of the `type_keys` API because it can cause some modals to close.
+            // This is not an issue in later versions of Moodle where the autocomplete handling has been updated.
+            $this->key_press(27);
             $this->wait_for_pending_js();
         }
     }