diff --git a/test/pummel/test-fs-readfile-tostring-fail.js b/test/pummel/test-fs-readfile-tostring-fail.js
index 9a443fc71bb2c3..a068b3af3b0cea 100644
--- a/test/pummel/test-fs-readfile-tostring-fail.js
+++ b/test/pummel/test-fs-readfile-tostring-fail.js
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ const stream = fs.createWriteStream(file, {
   flags: 'a'
 });
 
+stream.on('error', (err) => { throw err; });
+
 const size = kStringMaxLength / 200;
 const a = Buffer.alloc(size, 'a');