diff --git a/test/integration/mesh.test.ts b/test/integration/mesh.test.ts
index 1e47d38..07d604d 100644
--- a/test/integration/mesh.test.ts
+++ b/test/integration/mesh.test.ts
@@ -941,9 +941,19 @@ test("a route is a grant: a workload is reached by the name it asked for", {
   await mesh("push");
   await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 20_000));
 
+  // The provider has to have applied before the file means anything. **The mesh withdrawing a
+  // route and the machine acting on it are different things**, and a test that reads the file
+  // without checking the second reports the first wrongly whenever the machine is behind for any
+  // unrelated reason.
+  const applied = await mesh("status");
+  assert.doesNotMatch(applied, /anchor\s+(failed|refused)/,
+    `the provider did not apply, so what its file says is not what the mesh decided:\n${applied}`);
+
   const after = await must("anchor", `cat /etc/frontdoor/routes.json`);
   assert.doesNotMatch(after, /shop\.mesh\.test/,
-    `the route outlived the module that asked for it:\n${after}`);
+    `the route outlived the module that asked for it:\n${after}\n\n` +
+    `what the mesh would send now:\n` +
+    `${(await on("anchor", `docker exec mesh-control /mesh-control plan anchor --files`)).out}`);
 
   let gone = false;
   for (let i = 0; i < 15 && !gone; i++) {