diff --git a/test/browser/connection.test.js b/test/browser/connection.test.js
index 54a08a519..83bf5e14d 100644
--- a/test/browser/connection.test.js
+++ b/test/browser/connection.test.js
@@ -213,10 +213,19 @@ define(['shared_helper', 'chai'], function (Helper, chai) {
         });
       });
 
+      function connectionID(key) {
+        const s = key.split('-')[0];
+        if (s.includes('!')) {
+          /* skip the instance id */
+          return s.split('!')[1];
+        }
+        return s;
+      }
+
       /* uses internal realtime knowledge of the format of the connection key to
        * check if a connection key is the result of a successful recovery of another */
       function sameConnection(keyA, keyB) {
-        return keyA.split('-')[0] === keyB.split('-')[0];
+        return connectionID(keyA) === connectionID(keyB);
       }
 
       /**