diff --git a/flink-connector-kafka/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/connector/kafka/sink/KafkaWriterITCase.java b/flink-connector-kafka/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/connector/kafka/sink/KafkaWriterITCase.java
index e363d837c..a559e3a54 100644
--- a/flink-connector-kafka/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/connector/kafka/sink/KafkaWriterITCase.java
+++ b/flink-connector-kafka/src/test/java/org/apache/flink/connector/kafka/sink/KafkaWriterITCase.java
@@ -88,31 +88,40 @@ public void testIncreasingRecordBasedCounters() throws Exception {
 
         try (final KafkaWriter<Integer> writer =
                 createWriterWithConfiguration(
-                        getKafkaClientConfiguration(), DeliveryGuarantee.NONE, metricGroup)) {
+                        getKafkaClientConfiguration(),
+                        DeliveryGuarantee.AT_LEAST_ONCE,
+                        metricGroup)) {
             final Counter numBytesOut = metricGroup.getIOMetricGroup().getNumBytesOutCounter();
             final Counter numRecordsOut = metricGroup.getIOMetricGroup().getNumRecordsOutCounter();
             final Counter numRecordsOutErrors = metricGroup.getNumRecordsOutErrorsCounter();
             final Counter numRecordsSendErrors = metricGroup.getNumRecordsSendErrorsCounter();
-            assertThat(numBytesOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(0L);
-            assertThat(numRecordsOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
+
+            // ApiVersionsRequest etc. is sent on initialization, so establish some baseline
+            writer.write(0, SINK_WRITER_CONTEXT);
+            writer.flush(false); // ensure data is actually written
+            timeService.trigger(); // sync byte count
+            long baselineCount = numBytesOut.getCount();
+            assertThat(numRecordsOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(1);
             assertThat(numRecordsOutErrors.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
             assertThat(numRecordsSendErrors.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
 
             // elements for which the serializer returns null should be silently skipped
             writer.write(null, SINK_WRITER_CONTEXT);
-            timeService.trigger();
-            assertThat(numBytesOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(0L);
-            assertThat(numRecordsOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
+            writer.flush(false);
+            timeService.trigger(); // sync byte count
+            assertThat(numBytesOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(baselineCount);
+            assertThat(numRecordsOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(1);
             assertThat(numRecordsOutErrors.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
             assertThat(numRecordsSendErrors.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
 
             // but elements for which a non-null producer record is returned should count
             writer.write(1, SINK_WRITER_CONTEXT);
-            timeService.trigger();
-            assertThat(numRecordsOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(1);
+            writer.flush(false);
+            timeService.trigger(); // sync byte count
+            assertThat(numBytesOut.getCount()).isGreaterThan(baselineCount);
+            assertThat(numRecordsOut.getCount()).isEqualTo(2);
             assertThat(numRecordsOutErrors.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
             assertThat(numRecordsSendErrors.getCount()).isEqualTo(0);
-            assertThat(numBytesOut.getCount()).isGreaterThan(0L);
         }
     }