diff --git a/platform/structuralsearch/testSource/com/intellij/structuralsearch/StructuralSearchTest.java b/platform/structuralsearch/testSource/com/intellij/structuralsearch/StructuralSearchTest.java
index f6f3d58ba384..9c88ec3866d6 100644
--- a/platform/structuralsearch/testSource/com/intellij/structuralsearch/StructuralSearchTest.java
+++ b/platform/structuralsearch/testSource/com/intellij/structuralsearch/StructuralSearchTest.java
@@ -2948,8 +2948,12 @@ public class StructuralSearchTest extends StructuralSearchTestCase {
     String source = "{}";
 
     String pattern1 = "/*$A$a*/";
+    MalformedPatternException ex = null;
     try {
       findMatchesCount(source, pattern1);
-    } catch (MalformedPatternException ignore) {}
+    } catch (MalformedPatternException e) {
+      ex = e;
+    }
+    assertNotNull(ex);
   }
 }