diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 39029c498..fd93b9c36 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2913,6 +2913,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lemmy_apub",
  "lemmy_db_schema",
  "lemmy_db_views_actor",
+ "lemmy_utils",
  "moka",
  "once_cell",
  "reqwest",
diff --git a/crates/federate/Cargo.toml b/crates/federate/Cargo.toml
index 9ccd8adc3..d456854c4 100644
--- a/crates/federate/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/federate/Cargo.toml
@@ -33,3 +33,6 @@ tokio = { workspace = true, features = ["full"] }
 tracing.workspace = true
 moka.workspace = true
 tokio-util = "0.7.10"
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+lemmy_utils.workspace = true
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/crates/federate/src/lib.rs b/crates/federate/src/lib.rs
index fc5bd2387..d95551e34 100644
--- a/crates/federate/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/federate/src/lib.rs
@@ -201,3 +201,45 @@ async fn print_stats(pool: &mut DbPool<'_>, stats: &HashMap<String, FederationQu
   }
   tracing::info!("{ok_count} others up to date. {behind_count} instances behind.");
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+#[allow(clippy::unwrap_used)]
+#[allow(clippy::indexing_slicing)]
+mod test {
+
+  use super::*;
+  use lemmy_db_schema::utils::build_db_pool_for_tests;
+  use lemmy_utils::error::LemmyResult;
+
+  #[tokio::test]
+  async fn test_start_stop_federation_workers() -> LemmyResult<()> {
+    // initialization
+    let context = LemmyContext::init_test_context().await;
+    let pool = &mut context.pool();
+    let actual_pool = build_db_pool_for_tests().await;
+    let opts = Opts {
+      process_count: 1,
+      process_index: 1,
+    };
+    let federation_config = FederationConfig::builder()
+      .domain("local.com")
+      .app_data(context.clone())
+      .build()
+      .await?;
+
+    let instances = vec![
+      Instance::read_or_create(pool, "alpha.com".to_string()).await?,
+      Instance::read_or_create(pool, "beta.com".to_string()).await?,
+      Instance::read_or_create(pool, "gamma.com".to_string()).await?,
+    ];
+
+    let task = start_stop_federation_workers_cancellable(opts, actual_pool, federation_config);
+
+    // cleanup
+    for i in instances {
+      Instance::delete(pool, i.id).await?;
+    }
+    task.cancel().await?;
+    Ok(())
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scripts/test.sh b/scripts/test.sh
index 3e0581fc7..9bb6acaa8 100755
--- a/scripts/test.sh
+++ b/scripts/test.sh
@@ -20,11 +20,10 @@ then
   cargo test -p $PACKAGE --all-features --no-fail-fast $TEST
 else
   cargo test --workspace --no-fail-fast
+  # Testing lemmy utils all features in particular (for ts-rs bindings)
+  cargo test -p lemmy_utils --all-features --no-fail-fast
 fi
 
-# Testing lemmy utils all features in particular (for ts-rs bindings)
-cargo test -p lemmy_utils --all-features --no-fail-fast
-
 # Add this to do printlns: -- --nocapture
 
 pg_ctl stop --silent