diff --git a/contrib/simpletest/main.php b/contrib/simpletest/main.php
index 854bc406..22ef730e 100644
--- a/contrib/simpletest/main.php
+++ b/contrib/simpletest/main.php
@@ -176,7 +176,9 @@ class ShimmieWebTestCase extends SCoreWebTestCase {
 			}
 		}
 
-		$this->assertTrue($image_id > 0);
+		// sometimes we want uploading to fail, eg
+		// testing for a blacklist
+		//$this->assertTrue($image_id > 0);
 
 		$this->setMaximumRedirects(5);
 		return $image_id;