diff --git a/orchestrator/kafka/functional_test.go b/orchestrator/kafka/functional_test.go
index 8298e7e6..c846bf35 100644
--- a/orchestrator/kafka/functional_test.go
+++ b/orchestrator/kafka/functional_test.go
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ func TestTopicMorePartitions(t *testing.T) {
 
 	deadline := time.Now().Add(1 * time.Second)
 	for {
+		client.ForceMetadataRefresh()
 		topics, err := adminClient.ListTopics(t.Context())
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("ListTopics() error:\n%+v", err)
@@ -177,11 +178,15 @@ func TestTopicMorePartitions(t *testing.T) {
 
 	deadline = time.Now().Add(1 * time.Second)
 	for {
+		client.ForceMetadataRefresh()
 		topics, err := adminClient.ListTopics(t.Context())
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("ListTopics() error:\n%+v", err)
 		}
-		topic := topics[expectedTopicName]
+		topic, ok := topics[expectedTopicName]
+		if !ok {
+			t.Fatal("ListTopics() did not find the topic")
+		}
 		t.Logf("Topic configuration:\n%+v", topic)
 		if len(topic.Partitions) != 4 || topic.Partitions.NumReplicas() != 1 {
 			if time.Now().Before(deadline) {
diff --git a/orchestrator/kafka/root.go b/orchestrator/kafka/root.go
index aeeb76bf..f9448b52 100644
--- a/orchestrator/kafka/root.go
+++ b/orchestrator/kafka/root.go
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ func (c *Component) Start() error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("unable to create topic %q: %w", c.kafkaTopic, err)
 		}
 		l.Info().Msg("topic created")
+		client.ForceMetadataRefresh()
 	} else {
 		nbPartitions := len(topic.Partitions)
 		if nbPartitions > int(c.config.TopicConfiguration.NumPartitions) {
@@ -95,6 +96,7 @@ func (c *Component) Start() error {
 					c.kafkaTopic, err)
 			}
 			l.Info().Msg("number of partitions increased")
+			client.ForceMetadataRefresh()
 		}
 		if int(c.config.TopicConfiguration.ReplicationFactor) != topic.Partitions.NumReplicas() {
 			// TODO: https://github.com/deviceinsight/kafkactl/blob/main/internal/topic/topic-operation.go
@@ -136,6 +138,7 @@ func (c *Component) Start() error {
 					c.kafkaTopic, err)
 			}
 			l.Info().Msg("topic updated")
+			client.ForceMetadataRefresh()
 		}
 	}
 	return nil