diff --git a/IPython/core/tests/test_application.py b/IPython/core/tests/test_application.py
index 5af7f06802f..38858f7c0d4 100644
--- a/IPython/core/tests/test_application.py
+++ b/IPython/core/tests/test_application.py
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 @dec.onlyif_unicode_paths
 def test_unicode_cwd():
     """Check that IPython starts with non-ascii characters in the path."""
+    # Deliberately break test - testing the test framework.
+    raise Exception("Test deliberately broken")
+    
     wd = tempfile.mkdtemp(suffix=u"€")
     
     old_wd = os.getcwdu()