diff --git a/pubsub/integration_test.go b/pubsub/integration_test.go
index 960e8240da4d..ed05e832bdb1 100644
--- a/pubsub/integration_test.go
+++ b/pubsub/integration_test.go
@@ -1263,11 +1263,17 @@ func TestIntegration_OrderedKeys_JSON(t *testing.T) {
 		key := parts[0]
 		msg := parts[1]
 		publishData = append(publishData, testutil2.OrderedKeyMsg{Key: key, Data: msg})
-		topic.Publish(ctx, &Message{
-			ID:          msg,
+		r := topic.Publish(ctx, &Message{
 			Data:        []byte(msg),
 			OrderingKey: key,
 		})
+		go func() {
+			_, err := r.Get(ctx)
+			if err != nil {
+				// Can't fail inside goroutine, so just log the error.
+				t.Logf("publish error for message(%s): %v", msg, err)
+			}
+		}()
 		wg.Add(1)
 	}
 	if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
@@ -1276,15 +1282,17 @@ func TestIntegration_OrderedKeys_JSON(t *testing.T) {
 
 	go func() {
 		if err := sub.Receive(ctx, func(ctx context.Context, msg *Message) {
-			defer msg.Ack()
 			mu.Lock()
 			defer mu.Unlock()
-			if _, ok := receiveSet[msg.ID]; ok {
+			// Messages are deduped using the data field, since in this case all
+			// messages are unique.
+			if _, ok := receiveSet[string(msg.Data)]; ok {
 				return
 			}
-			receiveSet[msg.ID] = struct{}{}
+			receiveSet[string(msg.Data)] = struct{}{}
 			receiveData = append(receiveData, testutil2.OrderedKeyMsg{Key: msg.OrderingKey, Data: string(msg.Data)})
 			wg.Done()
+			msg.Ack()
 		}); err != nil {
 			if c := status.Code(err); c != codes.Canceled {
 				t.Error(err)
@@ -1307,7 +1315,7 @@ func TestIntegration_OrderedKeys_JSON(t *testing.T) {
 	mu.Lock()
 	defer mu.Unlock()
 	if err := testutil2.VerifyKeyOrdering(publishData, receiveData); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("CreateTopic error: %v", err)
+		t.Fatalf("VerifyKeyOrdering error: %v", err)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/pubsub/internal/testutil/verifier.go b/pubsub/internal/testutil/verifier.go
index 66ab4fa6baca..dd8225488055 100644
--- a/pubsub/internal/testutil/verifier.go
+++ b/pubsub/internal/testutil/verifier.go
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func VerifyKeyOrdering(publishData, receiveData []OrderedKeyMsg) error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("saw key %s, but we never published this key", k)
 		}
 
-		if diff := cmp.Diff(pb, rd); diff != "" {
+		if diff := cmp.Diff(rd, pb); diff != "" {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s: got -, want +\n\t%s", k, diff)
 		}
 	}