diff --git a/nixos/tests/systemd-journal.nix b/nixos/tests/systemd-journal.nix
index c50c151ae10d..b0a3f62ce1cb 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/systemd-journal.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/systemd-journal.nix
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import ./make-test-python.nix ({ pkgs, ... }:
   testScript = ''
     machine.wait_for_unit("multi-user.target")
 
+    machine.succeed("journalctl --grep=systemd")
+
     machine.succeed(
         "${pkgs.curl}/bin/curl -s localhost:19531/machine | ${pkgs.jq}/bin/jq -e '.hostname == \"machine\"'"
     )