diff --git a/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/ValueTest.java b/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/ValueTest.java
index 815fb5f2dc2c..2966ef80cff5 100644
--- a/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/ValueTest.java
+++ b/google-cloud-spanner/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/spanner/ValueTest.java
@@ -730,7 +730,8 @@ public void serialization() {
     reserializeAndAssert(Value.float64Array(BrokenSerializationList.of(.1, .2, .3)));
     reserializeAndAssert(Value.float64Array((Iterable<Double>) null));
 
-    reserializeAndAssert(Value.stringArray(BrokenSerializationList.of("a", "b")));
+    BrokenSerializationList<String> of = BrokenSerializationList.of("a", "b");
+    reserializeAndAssert(Value.stringArray(of));
     reserializeAndAssert(Value.stringArray(null));
 
     reserializeAndAssert(
@@ -738,6 +739,11 @@ public void serialization() {
     reserializeAndAssert(Value.bytesArray(null));
   }
 
+  @Test(expected = IllegalStateException.class)
+  public void verifyBrokenSerialization() {
+    reserializeAndAssert(BrokenSerializationList.of(1, 2, 3));
+  }
+
   private static class BrokenSerializationList<T> extends ForwardingList<T> implements
       Serializable {
     private final List<T> delegate;