diff --git a/ipc/glue/test/browser/browser_utility_filepicker_crashed.js b/ipc/glue/test/browser/browser_utility_filepicker_crashed.js
index 1cfbb9e59184..6d087d5ff5c1 100644
--- a/ipc/glue/test/browser/browser_utility_filepicker_crashed.js
+++ b/ipc/glue/test/browser/browser_utility_filepicker_crashed.js
@@ -94,11 +94,19 @@ function makeTask(description, Describe, action) {
       // file dialog open to fail.
       //
       // (We shouldn't be running two such tests in parallel on the same Fx
-      // instance, but that's not obvious at this level.)
+      // instance, but it's not obvious at this level that we're not.)
       ok(false, "another test has a file dialog open; aborting");
       return;
     }
 
+    // the file-picker-crashed notification should be shown after the process
+    // dies, but we must set up the listener before the notification is shown
+    let notificationAppeared = BrowserTestUtils.waitForNotificationBar(
+      gBrowser,
+      undefined,
+      "file-picker-crashed"
+    );
+
     const { process, file } = openFileDialog();
     const pid = await process;
     const untilDead = untilChildProcessDead(pid);
@@ -113,6 +121,10 @@ function makeTask(description, Describe, action) {
     const delta = _after - _before;
     info(`file callback resolved after ${description} after ${delta}ms`);
 
+    let notification = await notificationAppeared;
+    ok(notification, "file-picker notification should appear");
+    notification.close();
+
     // depending on the test configuration, this may take some time while
     // cleanup occurs
     await untilDead;