diff --git a/tests.py b/tests.py
index be7c6b288ba46eee74b08e285e281e79994de51f..b3e7cefb0ee486560ff468ec4497b52d93685c02 100644
--- a/tests.py
+++ b/tests.py
@@ -157,6 +157,8 @@ def test_install_environment(tmp_path):
         .stdout.decode("utf-8")
         .strip()
     )
+    assert len(gcc_ver) > 3, f"Couldn't find gcc {gcc_ver=}"
+
     setup_file = release_base_dir / "spack-environments/spack_setup.sh"
     with open(setup_file, "r") as f:
         lines = f.read().replace(