diff --git a/modeldb/modeldb-run.yaml b/modeldb/modeldb-run.yaml
index 323d77c..482bbe0 100644
--- a/modeldb/modeldb-run.yaml
+++ b/modeldb/modeldb-run.yaml
@@ -388,7 +388,8 @@
     # - it tries to access /proc/uptime, which is not portable
     # - if that works (i.e. on Linux) it runs with a different seed every time,
     #   which is unhelpful in a CI context
-    -  sed -i'.bak' -e 's#ropen(#// ropen(#g;s#rseed = fscan()#rseed=424242#g' testnet.hoc
+    # FIXME disabled to force a failure
+    #-  sed -i'.bak' -e 's#ropen(#// ropen(#g;s#rseed = fscan()#rseed=424242#g' testnet.hoc
 52034:
     run:
     - run_short()