diff --git a/gravel-test-utils/src/xvfb.rs b/gravel-test-utils/src/xvfb.rs
index 930fd0e..a23ed52 100644
--- a/gravel-test-utils/src/xvfb.rs
+++ b/gravel-test-utils/src/xvfb.rs
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ impl Xvfb {
 	/// Start new Xvfb server with sequential display number.
 	#[cfg(unix)]
 	pub fn new() -> Result<Self, io::Error> {
-		use std::process::Command;
 		use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicUsize, Ordering};
+		use std::{process::Command, thread, time::Duration};
 
 		static DISPLAY_COUNTER: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(42);
 
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ impl Xvfb {
 
 		let process = Command::new("Xvfb").arg(&display).arg("-ac").spawn()?;
 
+		// TODO implement polling/signaling
+		thread::sleep(Duration::from_millis(1000));
+
 		Ok(Self {
 			process: Some(process),
 			display,
diff --git a/gravel/tests/smoke_test.rs b/gravel/tests/smoke_test.rs
index de03771..bdea161 100644
--- a/gravel/tests/smoke_test.rs
+++ b/gravel/tests/smoke_test.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#![allow(unused_crate_dependencies, clippy::missing_panics_doc)]
+#![allow(unused_crate_dependencies, clippy::missing_panics_doc, clippy::print_stderr)]
 
 use gravel_test_utils::xvfb::Xvfb;
 use itertools::Itertools;
@@ -27,10 +27,14 @@ pub fn run_gravel(mut bin: Command, xvfb: Xvfb) {
 		.env("GRAVEL_CONFIG_PATH", "tests/config")
 		.env("DISPLAY", xvfb.display())
 		.arg("--log-file=off")
+		.arg("-vv")
 		.output()
 		.expect("gravel broke");
 
-	assert!(output.status.success());
+	// TODO: capture *and* stream to console
+	eprintln!("{}", String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stderr));
+
+	assert_eq!(Some(0), output.status.code());
 
 	let stderr_string = String::from_utf8(output.stderr).expect("application must output valid UTF-8");