diff --git a/test/atomicity b/test/atomicity
index ca5c44d7..88b39587 100755
--- a/test/atomicity
+++ b/test/atomicity
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ done
 
 test_begin_subtest '"notmuch new" is idempotent under arbitrary aborts'
 test_subtest_known_broken
-test_expect_equal GDB "$(cat searchall)" "$(cat expectall)"
+test_expect_equal_file GDB searchall expectall
 
 test_expect_success GDB "detected $outcount>10 abort points" "test $outcount -gt 10"