diff --git a/master/buildbot/test/unit/test_stats_service.py b/master/buildbot/test/unit/test_stats_service.py
index 32e4554d88b..4d0d358ddf5 100644
--- a/master/buildbot/test/unit/test_stats_service.py
+++ b/master/buildbot/test/unit/test_stats_service.py
@@ -55,6 +55,16 @@ def tearDown(self):
         self.stats_service.stopService()
 
 
+class DummyStatsStorageBase(StatsStorageBase):
+
+    """
+    A dummy class to test intialization of StatsStorageBase.
+    """
+
+    def thd_postStatsValue(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        return defer.succeed(None)
+
+
 class TestStatsServicesConfiguration(TestStatsServicesBase):
 
     def test_reconfig_with_no_storage_backends(self):
@@ -154,6 +164,13 @@ def test_influx_service_not_inited(self):
         svc.thd_postStatsValue("test", "test", "test")
         self.assertLogged("Service.*not initialized")
 
+    def test_storage_backend_base_failure_on_init(self):
+        svc = DummyStatsStorageBase()
+
+        r = svc.thd_postStatsValue("test", "test", "test")
+        assert isinstance(r, defer.Deferred)
+        assert r.result == None
+
 
 class TestStatsServicesConsumers(steps.BuildStepMixin, TestStatsServicesBase):