diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/hotswap/lambda-functions.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/hotswap/lambda-functions.ts
index ca5555599258c..ac87e25c29655 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/hotswap/lambda-functions.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/hotswap/lambda-functions.ts
@@ -241,8 +241,9 @@ class LambdaFunctionHotswapOperation implements HotswapOperation {
         ZipFile: resource.code.functionCodeZip,
       }).promise();
 
-      await this.waitForLastUpdateStatusComplete(updateFunctionCodeResponse, lambda);
+      await this.waitForLambdasCodeUpdateToFinish(updateFunctionCodeResponse, lambda);
 
+      // only if the code changed is there any point in publishing a new Version
       if (this.lambdaFunctionResource.publishVersion) {
         const publishVersionPromise = lambda.publishVersion({
           FunctionName: this.lambdaFunctionResource.physicalName,
@@ -304,14 +305,14 @@ class LambdaFunctionHotswapOperation implements HotswapOperation {
    * or very slowly. For example, Zip based functions _not_ in a VPC can take ~1 second whereas VPC
    * or Container functions can take ~25 seconds (and 'idle' VPC functions can take minutes).
    */
-  private async waitForLastUpdateStatusComplete(currentFunctionConfiguration: AWS.Lambda.FunctionConfiguration, lambda: AWS.Lambda): Promise<void> {
+  private async waitForLambdasCodeUpdateToFinish(currentFunctionConfiguration: AWS.Lambda.FunctionConfiguration, lambda: AWS.Lambda): Promise<void> {
+    const functionIsInVpcOrUsesDockerForCode = currentFunctionConfiguration.VpcConfig?.VpcId ||
+        currentFunctionConfiguration.PackageType === 'Image';
+
     // if the function is deployed in a VPC or if it is a container image function
     // then the update will take much longer and we can wait longer between checks
     // otherwise, the update will be quick, so a 1-second delay is fine
-    const delaySeconds = currentFunctionConfiguration.VpcConfig?.VpcId ||
-        currentFunctionConfiguration.PackageType === 'Image'
-      ? 5
-      : 1;
+    const delaySeconds = functionIsInVpcOrUsesDockerForCode ? 5 : 1;
 
     // configure a custom waiter to wait for the function update to complete
     (lambda as any).api.waiters.updateFunctionCodeToFinish = {
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-deployments.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-deployments.test.ts
index 56100b79a9ee7..67b0117a8d7ae 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-deployments.test.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-deployments.test.ts
@@ -13,18 +13,6 @@ beforeEach(() => {
   mockGetEndpointSuffix = jest.fn(() => 'amazonaws.com');
   hotswapMockSdkProvider.stubLambda({
     updateFunctionCode: mockUpdateLambdaCode,
-  }, {
-    // these are needed for the waiter API that the Lambda service hotswap uses
-    api: {
-      waiters: {},
-    },
-    makeRequest() {
-      return {
-        promise: () => Promise.resolve({}),
-        response: {},
-        addListeners: () => {},
-      };
-    },
   });
   hotswapMockSdkProvider.setUpdateStateMachineMock(mockUpdateMachineDefinition);
   hotswapMockSdkProvider.stubGetEndpointSuffix(mockGetEndpointSuffix);
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-test-setup.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-test-setup.ts
index 68cdb14fcff8d..7b6aebb9a81ee 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-test-setup.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/hotswap-test-setup.ts
@@ -83,7 +83,11 @@ export class HotswapMockSdkProvider {
     });
   }
 
-  public stubLambda(stubs: SyncHandlerSubsetOf<AWS.Lambda>, additionalProperties: { [key: string]: any } = {}) {
+  public stubLambda(
+    stubs: SyncHandlerSubsetOf<AWS.Lambda>,
+    serviceStubs?: SyncHandlerSubsetOf<AWS.Service>,
+    additionalProperties: { [key: string]: any } = {},
+  ): void {
     this.mockSdkProvider.stubLambda(stubs, {
       api: {
         waiters: {},
@@ -95,11 +99,12 @@ export class HotswapMockSdkProvider {
           addListeners: () => {},
         };
       },
+      ...serviceStubs,
       ...additionalProperties,
     });
   }
 
-  public getLambdaApiWaiters() {
+  public getLambdaApiWaiters(): { [key: string]: any } {
     return (this.mockSdkProvider.sdk.lambda() as any).api.waiters;
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-docker-hotswap-deployments.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-docker-hotswap-deployments.test.ts
index 400eec87c6bad..3ed53e5fd908b 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-docker-hotswap-deployments.test.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-docker-hotswap-deployments.test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ let mockUpdateLambdaCode: (params: Lambda.Types.UpdateFunctionCodeRequest) => La
 let mockTagResource: (params: Lambda.Types.TagResourceRequest) => {};
 let mockUntagResource: (params: Lambda.Types.UntagResourceRequest) => {};
 let hotswapMockSdkProvider: setup.HotswapMockSdkProvider;
-let mockMakeRequest: (operation: string, params: any) => {};
+let mockMakeRequest: (operation: string, params: any) => AWS.Request<any, AWS.AWSError>;
 
 beforeEach(() => {
   hotswapMockSdkProvider = setup.setupHotswapTests();
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-hotswap-deployments.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-hotswap-deployments.test.ts
index 4d446aad9559c..d96b8530bce88 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-hotswap-deployments.test.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/hotswap/lambda-functions-hotswap-deployments.test.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import * as setup from './hotswap-test-setup';
 let mockUpdateLambdaCode: (params: Lambda.Types.UpdateFunctionCodeRequest) => Lambda.Types.FunctionConfiguration;
 let mockTagResource: (params: Lambda.Types.TagResourceRequest) => {};
 let mockUntagResource: (params: Lambda.Types.UntagResourceRequest) => {};
-let mockMakeRequest: (operation: string, params: any) => {};
+let mockMakeRequest: (operation: string, params: any) => AWS.Request<any, AWS.AWSError>;
 let hotswapMockSdkProvider: setup.HotswapMockSdkProvider;
 
 beforeEach(() => {