diff --git a/lib/behat/behat_base.php b/lib/behat/behat_base.php
index 8c60cecd4fe..c2dac9a9e72 100644
--- a/lib/behat/behat_base.php
+++ b/lib/behat/behat_base.php
@@ -302,6 +302,11 @@ class behat_base extends Behat\MinkExtension\Context\RawMinkContext {
             $loops = $timeout;
         }
 
+        // DOM will never change on non-javascript case; do not wait or try again.
+        if (!$this->running_javascript()) {
+            $loops = 1;
+        }
+
         for ($i = 0; $i < $loops; $i++) {
             // We catch the exception thrown by the step definition to execute it again.
             try {
@@ -320,10 +325,12 @@ class behat_base extends Behat\MinkExtension\Context\RawMinkContext {
                 continue;
             }
 
-            if ($microsleep) {
-                usleep(100000);
-            } else {
-                sleep(1);
+            if ($this->running_javascript()) {
+                if ($microsleep) {
+                    usleep(100000);
+                } else {
+                    sleep(1);
+                }
             }
         }