diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala
index b5c4c705dcbc..6cc8fe1173d2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
 import java.security.SecureRandom
 import java.security.cert.X509Certificate
 import java.util.{Arrays, Properties}
-import java.util.concurrent.{CountDownLatch, TimeoutException, TimeUnit}
+import java.util.concurrent.{TimeoutException, TimeUnit}
 import java.util.jar.{JarEntry, JarOutputStream}
 import javax.net.ssl._
 import javax.tools.{JavaFileObject, SimpleJavaFileObject, ToolProvider}
@@ -172,22 +172,22 @@ private[spark] object TestUtils {
   /**
    * Run some code involving jobs submitted to the given context and assert that the jobs spilled.
    */
-  def assertSpilled[T](sc: SparkContext, identifier: String)(body: => T): Unit = {
-    val spillListener = new SpillListener
-    sc.addSparkListener(spillListener)
-    body
-    assert(spillListener.numSpilledStages > 0, s"expected $identifier to spill, but did not")
+  def assertSpilled(sc: SparkContext, identifier: String)(body: => Unit): Unit = {
+    withListener(sc, new SpillListener) { listener =>
+      body
+      assert(listener.numSpilledStages > 0, s"expected $identifier to spill, but did not")
+    }
   }
 
   /**
    * Run some code involving jobs submitted to the given context and assert that the jobs
    * did not spill.
    */
-  def assertNotSpilled[T](sc: SparkContext, identifier: String)(body: => T): Unit = {
-    val spillListener = new SpillListener
-    sc.addSparkListener(spillListener)
-    body
-    assert(spillListener.numSpilledStages == 0, s"expected $identifier to not spill, but did")
+  def assertNotSpilled(sc: SparkContext, identifier: String)(body: => Unit): Unit = {
+    withListener(sc, new SpillListener) { listener =>
+      body
+      assert(listener.numSpilledStages == 0, s"expected $identifier to not spill, but did")
+    }
   }
 
   /**
@@ -233,6 +233,21 @@ private[spark] object TestUtils {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Runs some code with the given listener installed in the SparkContext. After the code runs,
+   * this method will wait until all events posted to the listener bus are processed, and then
+   * remove the listener from the bus.
+   */
+  def withListener[L <: SparkListener](sc: SparkContext, listener: L) (body: L => Unit): Unit = {
+    sc.addSparkListener(listener)
+    try {
+      body(listener)
+    } finally {
+      sc.listenerBus.waitUntilEmpty(TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(10))
+      sc.listenerBus.removeListener(listener)
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Wait until at least `numExecutors` executors are up, or throw `TimeoutException` if the waiting
    * time elapsed before `numExecutors` executors up. Exposed for testing.
@@ -289,21 +304,17 @@ private[spark] object TestUtils {
 private class SpillListener extends SparkListener {
   private val stageIdToTaskMetrics = new mutable.HashMap[Int, ArrayBuffer[TaskMetrics]]
   private val spilledStageIds = new mutable.HashSet[Int]
-  private val stagesDone = new CountDownLatch(1)
 
-  def numSpilledStages: Int = {
-    // Long timeout, just in case somehow the job end isn't notified.
-    // Fails if a timeout occurs
-    assert(stagesDone.await(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS))
+  def numSpilledStages: Int = synchronized {
     spilledStageIds.size
   }
 
-  override def onTaskEnd(taskEnd: SparkListenerTaskEnd): Unit = {
+  override def onTaskEnd(taskEnd: SparkListenerTaskEnd): Unit = synchronized {
     stageIdToTaskMetrics.getOrElseUpdate(
       taskEnd.stageId, new ArrayBuffer[TaskMetrics]) += taskEnd.taskMetrics
   }
 
-  override def onStageCompleted(stageComplete: SparkListenerStageCompleted): Unit = {
+  override def onStageCompleted(stageComplete: SparkListenerStageCompleted): Unit = synchronized {
     val stageId = stageComplete.stageInfo.stageId
     val metrics = stageIdToTaskMetrics.remove(stageId).toSeq.flatten
     val spilled = metrics.map(_.memoryBytesSpilled).sum > 0
@@ -311,8 +322,4 @@ private class SpillListener extends SparkListener {
       spilledStageIds += stageId
     }
   }
-
-  override def onJobEnd(jobEnd: SparkListenerJobEnd): Unit = {
-    stagesDone.countDown()
-  }
 }