diff --git a/test_fms/field_manager/test_field_manager2.sh b/test_fms/field_manager/test_field_manager2.sh
index a320afcf9..d3a165b16 100755
--- a/test_fms/field_manager/test_field_manager2.sh
+++ b/test_fms/field_manager/test_field_manager2.sh
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ cat <<_EOF > input.nml
 /
 _EOF
 
-if [ ! -z $parser_skip ]; then
+if [ ! $parser_skip ]; then
   test_expect_failure "field table read with use_field_table.yaml = .true. but not compiling with yaml" 'mpirun -n 1 ./test_field_table_read'
 else
   test_expect_success "field table read with use_field_table.yaml = .true." 'mpirun -n 1 ./test_field_table_read'
diff --git a/test_fms/tracer_manager/test_tracer_manager2.sh b/test_fms/tracer_manager/test_tracer_manager2.sh
index 2afc300b9..b35122fa3 100755
--- a/test_fms/tracer_manager/test_tracer_manager2.sh
+++ b/test_fms/tracer_manager/test_tracer_manager2.sh
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ _EOF
 test_expect_success "tracer_manager r4 with the legacy field table" 'mpirun -n 2 ./test_tracer_manager_r4'
 test_expect_success "tracer_manager r8 with the legacy field table" 'mpirun -n 2 ./test_tracer_manager_r8'
 
-if [ -z $parser_skip ]; then
+if [ $parser_skip ]; then
 rm -rf field_table
 cat <<_EOF > input.nml
 &field_manager_nml