diff --git a/elasticsearch/tests/elasticsearch_test.py b/elasticsearch/tests/elasticsearch_test.py
index b3636af7d..37e63f2fd 100755
--- a/elasticsearch/tests/elasticsearch_test.py
+++ b/elasticsearch/tests/elasticsearch_test.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def test_defaults():
     # volumeClaimTemplates
     v = r["statefulset"][uname]["spec"]["volumeClaimTemplates"][0]
     assert v["metadata"]["name"] == uname
-    assert v["metadata"]["labels"] == {}
+    assert "labels" not in v["metadata"]
     assert v["spec"]["accessModes"] == ["ReadWriteOnce"]
     assert v["spec"]["resources"]["requests"]["storage"] == "30Gi"