diff --git a/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/remote/RemoteWebDriver.java b/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/remote/RemoteWebDriver.java
index d943db7a6624d..fa6349631e5e1 100644
--- a/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/remote/RemoteWebDriver.java
+++ b/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/remote/RemoteWebDriver.java
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.time.Duration;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Base64;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -414,6 +413,11 @@ public String getPageSource() {
 
   @Override
   public void close() {
+    // no-op if session id is null. We're only going to make ourselves unhappy
+    if (sessionId == null) {
+      return;
+    }
+
     if (this instanceof HasDevTools) {
       // This is a brute force approach to "solving" the problem of a hanging
       // CDP connection. Take a look at
@@ -433,13 +437,11 @@ public void close() {
 
     Response response = execute(DriverCommand.CLOSE);
     Object value = response.getValue();
-    List<String> windowHandles = (ArrayList<String>) value;
+    List<String> windowHandles = (List<String>) value;
 
-    if (windowHandles.isEmpty() && this instanceof HasBiDi) {
-      // If no top-level browsing contexts are open after calling close, it indicates that the
-      // WebDriver session is closed.
-      // If the WebDriver session is closed, the BiDi session also needs to be closed.
-      ((HasBiDi) this).maybeGetBiDi().ifPresent(BiDi::close);
+    if (windowHandles == null || windowHandles.isEmpty()) {
+      // Time to quit the browser if it was the last opened window.
+      quit();
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/SessionHandlingTest.java b/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/SessionHandlingTest.java
index ba261c061418f..36344921b2876 100644
--- a/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/SessionHandlingTest.java
+++ b/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/SessionHandlingTest.java
@@ -17,22 +17,30 @@
 
 package org.openqa.selenium;
 
-import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatExceptionOfType;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.*;
 import static org.openqa.selenium.testing.drivers.Browser.FIREFOX;
 import static org.openqa.selenium.testing.drivers.Browser.SAFARI;
 
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;
+import org.openqa.selenium.remote.SessionId;
 import org.openqa.selenium.testing.JupiterTestBase;
 import org.openqa.selenium.testing.NoDriverAfterTest;
 import org.openqa.selenium.testing.NotYetImplemented;
 
 class SessionHandlingTest extends JupiterTestBase {
 
+  @BeforeEach
+  void setUp() {
+    assertThat(getSessionId()).isNotNull();
+  }
+
   @NoDriverAfterTest
   @Test
   void callingQuitMoreThanOnceOnASessionIsANoOp() {
     driver.quit();
-    sleepTight(3000);
+    waitUntilBrowserFullyClosed();
     driver.quit();
   }
 
@@ -42,7 +50,7 @@ void callingQuitMoreThanOnceOnASessionIsANoOp() {
   @NotYetImplemented(SAFARI)
   public void callingQuitAfterClosingTheLastWindowIsANoOp() {
     driver.close();
-    sleepTight(3000);
+    waitUntilBrowserFullyClosed();
     driver.quit();
   }
 
@@ -50,7 +58,7 @@ public void callingQuitAfterClosingTheLastWindowIsANoOp() {
   @Test
   void callingAnyOperationAfterClosingTheLastWindowShouldThrowAnException() {
     driver.close();
-    sleepTight(3000);
+    waitUntilBrowserFullyClosed();
     assertThatExceptionOfType(NoSuchSessionException.class).isThrownBy(driver::getCurrentUrl);
   }
 
@@ -58,21 +66,22 @@ void callingAnyOperationAfterClosingTheLastWindowShouldThrowAnException() {
   @Test
   void callingAnyOperationAfterQuitShouldThrowAnException() {
     driver.quit();
-    sleepTight(3000);
+    waitUntilBrowserFullyClosed();
     assertThatExceptionOfType(NoSuchSessionException.class).isThrownBy(driver::getCurrentUrl);
   }
 
   @Test
-  void shouldContinueAfterSleep() {
-    sleepTight(10000);
-    driver.getWindowHandle(); // should not throw
+  void shouldContinueAfterSleep() throws InterruptedException {
+    assertThatCode(() -> driver.getWindowHandle()).doesNotThrowAnyException();
+    Thread.sleep(100);
+    assertThatCode(() -> driver.getWindowHandle()).doesNotThrowAnyException();
+  }
+
+  private void waitUntilBrowserFullyClosed() {
+    wait.until($ -> getSessionId() == null);
   }
 
-  private void sleepTight(long duration) {
-    try {
-      Thread.sleep(duration);
-    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
-      e.printStackTrace();
-    }
+  private SessionId getSessionId() {
+    return ((RemoteWebDriver) driver).getSessionId();
   }
 }