diff --git a/test/compile/axis.test.ts b/test/compile/axis.test.ts
index 62b8831bef..3cca5b032a 100644
--- a/test/compile/axis.test.ts
+++ b/test/compile/axis.test.ts
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ describe('Axis', function() {
       const orient = axis.orient(parseModel({
           mark: "point",
           encoding: {
-            y: {field: 'a'}
+            y: {field: 'a', type: 'quantitative'}
           }
         }), 'y');
       assert.deepEqual(orient, 'left');