diff --git a/src/autoscaler/metricsgateway/helpers/ws_helper_test.go b/src/autoscaler/metricsgateway/helpers/ws_helper_test.go
index 6bb8b0c9a..9c7785f53 100644
--- a/src/autoscaler/metricsgateway/helpers/ws_helper_test.go
+++ b/src/autoscaler/metricsgateway/helpers/ws_helper_test.go
@@ -105,6 +105,10 @@ var _ = Describe("WsHelper", func() {
 			err = wsHelper.SetupConn()
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 
+			err = wsHelper.Ping()
+			Expect(err).ShouldNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Eventually(pingPongChan, 5*time.Second, 1*time.Second).Should(Receive(Equal(1)))
+
 		})
 		It("close the websocket connection", func() {
 			wsHelper.CloseConn()
diff --git a/src/autoscaler/testhelpers/websocket_handler.go b/src/autoscaler/testhelpers/websocket_handler.go
index 370e1a89e..48c2efe32 100644
--- a/src/autoscaler/testhelpers/websocket_handler.go
+++ b/src/autoscaler/testhelpers/websocket_handler.go
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@ func NewWebsocketHandler(m chan []byte, pingPongChan chan int, keepAlive time.Du
 func (h *WebsocketHandler) CloseWSConnection() {
 	h.conLock.Lock()
 	defer h.conLock.Unlock()
-	h.wsConn.Close()
+	if h.wsConn != nil {
+		h.wsConn.Close()
+
+	}
 }
 func (h *WebsocketHandler) ServeWebsocket(rw http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	upgrader := websocket.Upgrader{