diff --git a/espresso/CHANGELOG.md b/espresso/CHANGELOG.md
index 89a4f06b1..212950801 100644
--- a/espresso/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/espresso/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ The following artifacts were released:
 * Replace now-unnecessary reflection from TestLooperManagerCompat when using Android SDK 36 APIs
 * Don't suppress AppNotIdleException if dumpThreadStates throws.
 * Remove Espresso.onIdle tracing
+* Downgrade IdlingResourceRegistry potential race condition exception to warning.
 
 **New Features**
 
diff --git a/espresso/core/java/androidx/test/espresso/base/IdlingResourceRegistry.java b/espresso/core/java/androidx/test/espresso/base/IdlingResourceRegistry.java
index 05f4e9423..8d3e1b672 100644
--- a/espresso/core/java/androidx/test/espresso/base/IdlingResourceRegistry.java
+++ b/espresso/core/java/androidx/test/espresso/base/IdlingResourceRegistry.java
@@ -547,7 +547,8 @@ private void handleRaceCondition(Message m) {
         if (is.idle) {
           // it was a race... i is now idle, everything is fine...
         } else {
-          throw new IllegalStateException(
+          Log.w(
+              TAG,
               String.format(
                   Locale.ROOT,
                   "Resource %s isIdleNow() is returning true, but a message indicating that the "
diff --git a/espresso/idling_resource/java/androidx/test/espresso/IdlingResource.java b/espresso/idling_resource/java/androidx/test/espresso/IdlingResource.java
index 6618a37f5..2cb11f285 100644
--- a/espresso/idling_resource/java/androidx/test/espresso/IdlingResource.java
+++ b/espresso/idling_resource/java/androidx/test/espresso/IdlingResource.java
@@ -63,10 +63,8 @@ public interface ResourceCallback {
     /**
      * Called when the resource goes from busy to idle.
      *
-     * <p>If the idle state is updated on a thread other than the main thread, this method should be
-     * called <b>before</b> the state is updated to return true. Failing to do so can cause a race
-     * condition where Espresso throws a consistency error due to observing {@link #isIdleNow()}
-     * returning true before the callback is invoked.
+     * <p>It is recommended to call this method <b>after</b> the idle state is updated to return
+     * true.
      */
     public void onTransitionToIdle();
   }