t/httpd-corner.t | 3 ++-
 t/nntpd.t        | 5 +++--

diff --git a/t/httpd-corner.t b/t/httpd-corner.t
index 794d8aebe7ca0414a22492bb747778784e839723..296e1dc1abfa1b7416838a40f3a813c5ad270353 100644
--- a/t/httpd-corner.t
+++ b/t/httpd-corner.t
@@ -610,7 +610,8 @@ 	my $lsof = which('lsof') or skip 'no lsof in PATH', 1;
 	my $null_in = '';
 	my $rdr = { 2 => \(my $null_err), 0 => \$null_in };
 	my @lsof = xqx([$lsof, '-p', $td->{pid}], undef, $rdr);
-	is_deeply([grep(/\bdeleted\b/, @lsof)], [], 'no lingering deleted inputs');
+	my $d = [ grep(/\(deleted\)/, @lsof) ];
+	is_deeply($d, [], 'no lingering deleted inputs') or diag explain($d);
 
 	# filter out pipes inherited from the parent
 	my @this = xqx([$lsof, '-p', $$], undef, $rdr);
diff --git a/t/nntpd.t b/t/nntpd.t
index 7db371ddb661306034b91b9ece026f466607f9cc..ce4d7cf9bf00a93415326ae07f7000001574b14b 100644
--- a/t/nntpd.t
+++ b/t/nntpd.t
@@ -365,8 +365,9 @@ 		ok($art, 'new article retrieved after compact');
 		$lsof or skip 'lsof missing', 1;
 		($^O =~ /\A(?:linux)\z/) or
 			skip "lsof /(deleted)/ check untested on $^O", 1;
-		my @of = xqx([$lsof, '-p', $td->{pid}], undef, $noerr);
-		is(scalar(grep(/\(deleted\)/, @of)), 0, 'no deleted files');
+		my @lsof = xqx([$lsof, '-p', $td->{pid}], undef, $noerr);
+		my $d = [ grep(/\(deleted\)/, @lsof) ];
+		is_deeply($d, [], 'no deleted files') or diag explain($d);
 	};
 	SKIP: { test_watch($tmpdir, $host_port, $group) };
 	{