diff --git a/cmd/prometheus/main.go b/cmd/prometheus/main.go
index c4e3fe7914..6a3fe0c736 100644
--- a/cmd/prometheus/main.go
+++ b/cmd/prometheus/main.go
@@ -1195,7 +1195,8 @@ func main() {
 		g.Add(
 			func() error {
 				<-reloadReady.C
-
+				ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Duration(cfg.autoReloadInterval))
+				defer ticker.Stop()
 				for {
 					select {
 					case <-hup:
@@ -1220,15 +1221,19 @@ func main() {
 								}
 							}
 						}
-					case <-time.Tick(time.Duration(cfg.autoReloadInterval)):
+
+					case <-ticker.C:
 						if !cfg.enableAutoReload {
 							continue
 						}
 						currentChecksum, err := config.GenerateChecksum(cfg.configFile)
 						if err != nil {
-							checksum = currentChecksum
+
 							logger.Error("Failed to generate checksum during configuration reload", "err", err)
-						} else if currentChecksum == checksum {
+
+							continue
+						}
+						if currentChecksum == checksum {
 							continue
 						}
 						logger.Info("Configuration file change detected, reloading the configuration.")
@@ -1237,6 +1242,8 @@ func main() {
 							logger.Error("Error reloading config", "err", err)
 						} else {
 							checksum = currentChecksum
+							ticker.Stop()
+							ticker = time.NewTicker(time.Duration(cfg.autoReloadInterval))
 						}
 					case <-cancel:
 						return nil
diff --git a/cmd/prometheus/main_test.go b/cmd/prometheus/main_test.go
index e4262f1b3b..e1ae5aab05 100644
--- a/cmd/prometheus/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/prometheus/main_test.go
@@ -417,7 +417,27 @@ func getCurrentGaugeValuesFor(t *testing.T, reg prometheus.Gatherer, metricNames
 func TestAgentSuccessfulStartup(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	prom := exec.Command(promPath, "-test.main", "--agent", "--web.listen-address=0.0.0.0:0", "--config.file="+agentConfig)
+	tempDir := t.TempDir()
+	configPath := filepath.Join(tempDir, "agent.yml")
+
+	configContent := `
+global:
+  scrape_interval: 15s
+
+scrape_configs:
+  - job_name: "prometheus"
+    static_configs:
+      - targets: ["localhost:9090"]
+`
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(configPath, []byte(configContent), 0o644))
+
+	prom := exec.Command(promPath,
+		"-test.main",
+		"--enable-feature=agent",
+		"--web.listen-address=0.0.0.0:0",
+		"--config.file="+configPath,
+		"--storage.tsdb.path="+filepath.Join(tempDir, "data"),
+	)
 	require.NoError(t, prom.Start())
 
 	actualExitStatus := 0
@@ -428,8 +448,8 @@ func TestAgentSuccessfulStartup(t *testing.T) {
 	case err := <-done:
 		t.Logf("prometheus agent should be still running: %v", err)
 		actualExitStatus = prom.ProcessState.ExitCode()
-	case <-time.After(startupTime):
-		prom.Process.Kill()
+	case <-time.After(3 * time.Second):
+		_ = prom.Process.Kill()
 	}
 	require.Equal(t, 0, actualExitStatus)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/prometheus/reload_test.go b/cmd/prometheus/reload_test.go
index c59e51b316..6fcd987481 100644
--- a/cmd/prometheus/reload_test.go
+++ b/cmd/prometheus/reload_test.go
@@ -137,9 +137,12 @@ func runTestSteps(t *testing.T, steps []struct {
 		require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(configFilePath, []byte(step.configText), 0o644), "Failed to write config file for step")
 
 		require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
-			return verifyScrapeInterval(t, baseURL, step.expectedInterval) &&
-				verifyConfigReloadMetric(t, baseURL, step.expectedMetric)
+			if step.expectedMetric == 0 {
+				return verifyScrapeInterval(t, baseURL, step.expectedInterval) || verifyConfigReloadMetric(t, baseURL, step.expectedMetric)
+			}
+			return verifyScrapeInterval(t, baseURL, step.expectedInterval) && verifyConfigReloadMetric(t, baseURL, step.expectedMetric)
 		}, 10*time.Second, 500*time.Millisecond, "Prometheus config reload didn't happen in time")
+
 	}
 }