diff --git a/tests/icles/ximagesrc-test.c b/tests/icles/ximagesrc-test.c
index 471c36a333..7af0e68bfb 100644
--- a/tests/icles/ximagesrc-test.c
+++ b/tests/icles/ximagesrc-test.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 {
   GstElement *pipeline;
   GstBus *bus;
+  GstState state, pending;
   GError *error = NULL;
 
   gst_init (&argc, &argv);
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   gst_element_set_state (pipeline, GST_STATE_PLAYING);
 
+  /* lets check it gets to PLAYING */
+  g_assert (gst_element_get_state (pipeline, &state, &pending,
+          GST_CLOCK_TIME_NONE) != GST_STATE_CHANGE_FAILURE);
+  g_assert (state == GST_STATE_PLAYING || pending == GST_STATE_PLAYING);
+
   /* We want to get out after 5 seconds */
   g_timeout_add (5000, (GSourceFunc) terminate_playback, pipeline);