diff --git a/SAS/TriggerServices/test/t_trigger_service.py b/SAS/TriggerServices/test/t_trigger_service.py
index 23f3efc3ae4c9a4ca9f3c92f2156747e802448f9..97d3eb2050ab93925e3b23801dde19a82a3929a8 100644
--- a/SAS/TriggerServices/test/t_trigger_service.py
+++ b/SAS/TriggerServices/test/t_trigger_service.py
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ class TestALERTHandler(unittest.TestCase):
 
             with self.assertRaises(Exception) as err:
                 self.handler.handle_event(self.voevent_xml, self.voevent_etree)
-            self.assertTrue('exceeded' in err.exception.message)
+            self.assertTrue('exceeded' in str(err.exception))
 
     def test_voevent_not_authorized_should_raise_exception(self):
         with mock.patch('lofar.triggerservices.trigger_service.momqueryrpc') as momrpc:
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ class TestALERTHandler(unittest.TestCase):
 
             with self.assertRaises(Exception) as err:
                 self.handler.handle_event(self.voevent_xml, self.voevent_etree)
-            self.assertTrue('not allowed' in err.exception.message)
+            self.assertTrue('not allowed' in str(err.exception))
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':