diff --git a/tests-clar/diff/submodules.c b/tests-clar/diff/submodules.c
index 6e52a6319..46fe6c21c 100644
--- a/tests-clar/diff/submodules.c
+++ b/tests-clar/diff/submodules.c
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ static void check_diff_patches(git_diff_list *diff, const char **expected)
 	for (d = 0; d < num_d; ++d, git_diff_patch_free(patch)) {
 		cl_git_pass(git_diff_get_patch(&patch, &delta, diff, d));
 
-		if (delta->status == GIT_DELTA_UNMODIFIED)
+		if (delta->status == GIT_DELTA_UNMODIFIED && expected[d] == NULL)
 			continue;
 
 		if (expected[d] && !strcmp(expected[d], "<SKIP>"))