diff --git a/test/validation/api/timer/timer.c b/test/validation/api/timer/timer.c
index db66b366462..5d5212ffe25 100644
--- a/test/validation/api/timer/timer.c
+++ b/test/validation/api/timer/timer.c
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ static void timer_pool_create_max(void)
 		CU_ASSERT_FATAL(tp[i] != ODP_TIMER_POOL_INVALID);
 	}
 
-	odp_timer_pool_start();
+	CU_ASSERT_FATAL(odp_timer_pool_start_multi(tp, num) == (int)num);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < num; i++) {
 		timer[i] = odp_timer_alloc(tp[i], queue, USER_PTR);