diff --git a/testcases/datedetectortestcase.py b/testcases/datedetectortestcase.py
index 218abba9..a18c87aa 100644
--- a/testcases/datedetectortestcase.py
+++ b/testcases/datedetectortestcase.py
@@ -87,9 +87,11 @@ class DateDetectorTest(unittest.TestCase):
 			log = sdate + "[sshd] error: PAM: Authentication failure"
 			# exclude
 
-			# yoh: on [:6] see in above test
-			self.assertEqual(self.__datedetector.getTime(log)[:6], date[:6])
-			self.assertEqual(self.__datedetector.getUnixTime(log), dateUnix)
+			#[ yoh: on [:6] see in above test
+			logtime = self.__datedetector.getTime(log)
+			self.assertIsNotNone(logtime, "getTime retrieved nothing: failure for %s" % sdate)
+			self.assertEqual(logtime[:6], date[:6], "getTime comparison failure for %s" % sdate)
+			self.assertEqual(self.__datedetector.getUnixTime(log), dateUnix, "getUnixTime failure for %s" % sdate)
 
 	def testStableSortTemplate(self):
 		old_names = [x.getName() for x in self.__datedetector.getTemplates()]