diff --git a/src/run-js-test.c b/src/run-js-test.c
index 5be4eaddd..7ffa62c9d 100644
--- a/src/run-js-test.c
+++ b/src/run-js-test.c
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
   clutter_x11_set_display (GDK_DISPLAY_XDISPLAY (gdk_display_get_default ()));
   clutter_x11_disable_event_retrieval ();
 
-  clutter_init (&argc, &argv);
+  if (clutter_init (&argc, &argv) != CLUTTER_INIT_SUCCESS)
+    g_error ("failed to initialize Clutter");
 
   gdk_window_add_filter (NULL, event_filter, NULL);
 
diff --git a/src/test-recorder.c b/src/test-recorder.c
index 9b3f7b5fd..2a684e15a 100644
--- a/src/test-recorder.c
+++ b/src/test-recorder.c
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 
   g_thread_init (NULL);
   gst_init (&argc, &argv);
-  clutter_init (&argc, &argv);
+  if (clutter_init (&argc, &argv) != CLUTTER_INIT_SUCCESS)
+    g_error ("failed to initialize Clutter");
 
   clutter_color_from_string (&red, "red");
   clutter_color_from_string (&green, "green");