diff --git a/tests/test-xattrs.sh b/tests/test-xattrs.sh
index d0173daf..6c19592b 100755
--- a/tests/test-xattrs.sh
+++ b/tests/test-xattrs.sh
@@ -19,6 +19,11 @@
 
 set -e
 
+touch test-xattrs
+if ! setfattr -n user.testvalue -v somevalue test-xattrs; then
+    exit 77
+fi
+
 echo "1..2"
 
 . $(dirname $0)/libtest.sh