diff --git a/data/tests/remotes.d/broken.conf b/data/tests/remotes.d/broken.conf
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..727169aac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/tests/remotes.d/broken.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[fwupd Remote]
+Enabled=true
+MetadataURI=file:///tmp/fwupd-self-test/broken.xml.gz
diff --git a/src/fu-self-test.c b/src/fu-self-test.c
index 1db6079c5..ea2e00d1b 100644
--- a/src/fu-self-test.c
+++ b/src/fu-self-test.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 
 #include "fu-device-private.h"
+#include "fu-engine.h"
 #include "fu-keyring.h"
 #include "fu-pending.h"
 #include "fu-plugin-private.h"
@@ -44,6 +45,29 @@
 #include "fu-keyring-pkcs7.h"
 #endif
 
+static void
+fu_engine_func (void)
+{
+	gboolean ret;
+	g_autoptr(FuEngine) engine = fu_engine_new ();
+	g_autoptr(GError) error = NULL;
+	g_autofree gchar *testdatadir = NULL;
+
+	ret = g_file_set_contents ("/tmp/fwupd-self-test/broken.xml.gz",
+				   "this is not a valid", -1, &error);
+	g_test_expect_message (G_LOG_DOMAIN, G_LOG_LEVEL_WARNING,
+			       "failed to load remote broken: *");
+
+	testdatadir = fu_test_get_filename (TESTDATADIR, ".");
+	g_assert (testdatadir != NULL);
+	g_setenv ("FU_SELF_TEST_REMOTES_DIR", testdatadir, TRUE);
+	ret = fu_engine_load (engine, &error);
+	g_assert_no_error (error);
+	g_assert (ret);
+	g_assert_cmpint (fu_engine_get_status (engine), ==, FWUPD_STATUS_IDLE);
+	g_test_assert_expected_messages ();
+}
+
 static void
 fu_device_metadata_func (void)
 {
@@ -726,6 +750,7 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 	g_test_add_func ("/fwupd/device-locker{success}", fu_device_locker_func);
 	g_test_add_func ("/fwupd/device-locker{fail}", fu_device_locker_fail_func);
 	g_test_add_func ("/fwupd/device{metadata}", fu_device_metadata_func);
+	g_test_add_func ("/fwupd/engine", fu_engine_func);
 	g_test_add_func ("/fwupd/hwids", fu_hwids_func);
 	g_test_add_func ("/fwupd/smbios", fu_smbios_func);
 	g_test_add_func ("/fwupd/pending", fu_pending_func);
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 0b06e00ee..95d12e4e4 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ if get_option('enable-tests')
       keyring_src,
       'fu-self-test.c',
       'fu-common.c',
+      'fu-config.c',
+      'fu-engine.c',
       'fu-keyring.c',
       'fu-hwids.c',
       'fu-device.c',