diff --git a/test/test_msr_routes.py b/test/test_msr_routes.py
index 15f8844d9e098b2fabd6a554a2788ce24754e851..80fef05fd235d194c90df84fde787c5f1168b05c 100644
--- a/test/test_msr_routes.py
+++ b/test/test_msr_routes.py
@@ -415,4 +415,6 @@ def test_ip_services(client):
     response_data = json.loads(rv.data.decode('utf-8'))
     jsonschema.validate(response_data, IP_SERVICES_LIST_SCHEMA)
 
-    assert response_data  # test data is non-empty
+    # sanity that there are some non-trivial elements in test data
+    assert any(len(_x['peerings']) > 0 for _x in response_data)
+    assert any(len(_x['services']) > 0 for _x in response_data)