diff --git a/test/test_arraycontext.py b/test/test_arraycontext.py
index faadf73be7a3805e57eba39c3a8808ca2f907a7c..fb681748d58b820499e196d78c916704f6fafc07 100644
--- a/test/test_arraycontext.py
+++ b/test/test_arraycontext.py
@@ -708,6 +708,9 @@ def test_norm_complex(actx_factory, norm_ord):
     norm_a_ref = np.linalg.norm(a, norm_ord)
     norm_a = actx.np.linalg.norm(actx.from_numpy(a), norm_ord)
 
+    if not np.isscalar(norm_a):
+        norm_a = actx.to_numpy(norm_a)
+
     assert abs(norm_a_ref - norm_a)/norm_a < 1e-13