diff --git a/pkg/arvo/tests/sys/zuse/format.hoon b/pkg/arvo/tests/sys/zuse/format.hoon
index a8ee826a4a..dddc9ef2e4 100644
--- a/pkg/arvo/tests/sys/zuse/format.hoon
+++ b/pkg/arvo/tests/sys/zuse/format.hoon
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@
     :: ship - store ship identity as a string
     ::
     %+  expect-eq
-      !>  [%s 'zod']
+      !>  [%n '"zod"']
       !>  (ship ~zod)
   ==
 ::  dejs - recursive processing of `json` values