diff --git a/src/test_utils.rs b/src/test_utils.rs
index 083f0b5c5..0bca60bdc 100644
--- a/src/test_utils.rs
+++ b/src/test_utils.rs
@@ -1433,8 +1433,7 @@ pub(crate) async fn mark_as_verified(this: &TestContext, other: &TestContext) {
 pub(crate) async fn sync(alice0: &TestContext, alice1: &TestContext) {
     alice0.send_sync_msg().await.unwrap();
     let sync_msg = alice0.pop_sent_sync_msg().await;
-    let no_msg = alice1.recv_msg_opt(&sync_msg).await;
-    assert!(no_msg.is_none());
+    alice1.recv_msg_trash(&sync_msg).await;
 }
 
 /// Pretty-print an event to stdout