--- a/Lib/test/test_asynchat.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asynchat.py
@@ -42,12 +42,15 @@
             self.event.set()
             conn, client = self.sock.accept()
             self.buffer = b""
+            self.received_something = False
             # collect data until quit message is seen
             while SERVER_QUIT not in self.buffer:
                 data = conn.recv(1)
                 if not data:
                     break
                 self.buffer = self.buffer + data
+            if self.buffer:
+                self.received_something = True
 
             # remove the SERVER_QUIT message
             self.buffer = self.buffer.replace(SERVER_QUIT, b'')
@@ -252,7 +255,7 @@
         # the server might have been able to send a byte or two back, but this
         # at least checks that it received something and didn't just fail
         # (which could still result in the client not having received anything)
-        self.assertGreater(len(s.buffer), 0)
+        self.assertTrue(s.received_something)
 
     def test_push(self):
         # Issue #12523: push() should raise a TypeError if it doesn't get