diff --git a/src/bin/psql/t/001_basic.pl b/src/bin/psql/t/001_basic.pl
index 6839f27cbe5..1f1c4d1a939 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/t/001_basic.pl
+++ b/src/bin/psql/t/001_basic.pl
@@ -398,12 +398,7 @@ psql_fails_like(
 
 psql_like(
 	$node,
-	sprintf(
-		q{with x as (
-		select now()-backend_start AS howlong
-		from pg_stat_activity
-		where pid = pg_backend_pid()
-	  ) select 123 from x where howlong < '2 seconds' \watch i=%g m=2}, 0.5),
+	'SELECT 123 \watch m=2',
 	qr/^123$/,
 	'\watch, 2 minimum rows');