diff --git a/distributed/tests/test_scheduler.py b/distributed/tests/test_scheduler.py
index 58b2fc7bd2..6292d4fb8d 100644
--- a/distributed/tests/test_scheduler.py
+++ b/distributed/tests/test_scheduler.py
@@ -615,15 +615,12 @@ async def test_ready_remove_worker(s, a, b):
 
 @gen_cluster(client=True, Worker=Nanny, timeout=60)
 async def test_restart(c, s, a, b):
-    from distributed.scheduler import TaskState
 
-    before = TaskState._instances
     futures = c.map(inc, range(20))
     await wait(futures)
 
     await s.restart()
 
-    assert TaskState._instances == before
     assert not s.computations
     assert not s.task_prefixes
     assert not s.task_groups