diff --git a/src/Groups/GAPGroups.jl b/src/Groups/GAPGroups.jl
index 68152aa1ddf6..89321335532e 100644
--- a/src/Groups/GAPGroups.jl
+++ b/src/Groups/GAPGroups.jl
@@ -372,11 +372,16 @@ end
 
 Base.:*(x::GAPGroupElem, y::GAPGroupElem) = _prod(x, y)
 
+
+isequal(x::GAPGroup, y::GAPGroup) = GapObj(x) == GapObj(y)
+
 function ==(x::GAPGroup, y::GAPGroup)
   _check_compatible(x, y)
   return GapObj(x) == GapObj(y)
 end
 
+isequal(x::BasicGAPGroupElem, y::BasicGAPGroupElem) = GapObj(x) == GapObj(y)
+
 # For two `BasicGAPGroupElem`s,
 # we allow the question for equality if their parents fit together
 # in the sense of `_check_compatible`,
diff --git a/test/book/cornerstones/groups/auxiliary_code/main.jl b/test/book/cornerstones/groups/auxiliary_code/main.jl
index 7203d7aff1b1..4c15907921a1 100644
--- a/test/book/cornerstones/groups/auxiliary_code/main.jl
+++ b/test/book/cornerstones/groups/auxiliary_code/main.jl
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
 import Pkg
 Pkg.add(name="GenericCharacterTables", version="0.4"; io=devnull)
 using GenericCharacterTables
-# for nicer printing
-using GenericCharacterTables: ParameterException
diff --git a/test/book/test.jl b/test/book/test.jl
index faf9a1cb3a8a..656d72b8b4d9 100644
--- a/test/book/test.jl
+++ b/test/book/test.jl
@@ -166,7 +166,18 @@ isdefined(Main, :FakeTerminals) || include(joinpath(pkgdir(REPL),"test","FakeTer
     if jlcon_mode
       input_string = "\e[200~$s\e[201~"
     end
+    haderror = false
     REPL.activate(mockrepl.mockdule)
+    # this allows us to detect errors in the middle of non-jlcon files
+    if !jlcon_mode
+      od = Base.active_repl.interface.modes[1].on_done
+      Base.active_repl.interface.modes[1].on_done = function (x...)
+                if Base.active_repl.waserror
+                  haderror = true
+                end
+                od(x...)
+              end
+    end
     result = redirect_stdout(mockrepl.out_stream) do
       input_task = @async begin
         write(mockrepl.stdin_write, input_string)
@@ -175,8 +186,16 @@ isdefined(Main, :FakeTerminals) || include(joinpath(pkgdir(REPL),"test","FakeTer
       wait(input_task)
       readuntil(mockrepl.output.out, "\nEND_BLOCK")
     end
+    if !jlcon_mode
+      # restore on-done
+      Base.active_repl.interface.modes[1].on_done=od
+    end
     REPL.activate(Main)
-    return sanitize_output(result)
+    output = sanitize_output(result)
+    if !jlcon_mode && haderror
+      error("ERROR in jl-mode:\n", output)
+    end
+    return output
   end
 
   function test_chapter(chapter::String="")