diff --git a/testcontainers/tests/async_runner.rs b/testcontainers/tests/async_runner.rs
index 62a2e45d..9d29a2ce 100644
--- a/testcontainers/tests/async_runner.rs
+++ b/testcontainers/tests/async_runner.rs
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ async fn start_containers_in_parallel() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
 
     let image = GenericImage::new("hello-world", "latest").with_wait_for(WaitFor::seconds(2));
 
+    // Make sure the image is already pulled, since otherwise pulling it may cause the deadline
+    // below to be exceeded.
+    let _ = image.clone().pull_image().await?;
+
     let run_1 = image.clone().start();
     let run_2 = image.clone().start();
     let run_3 = image.clone().start();