diff --git a/src/tests/clutter/conform/actor-pick.c b/src/tests/clutter/conform/actor-pick.c
index 53ac8ec5a..dcee96424 100644
--- a/src/tests/clutter/conform/actor-pick.c
+++ b/src/tests/clutter/conform/actor-pick.c
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@ on_timeout (gpointer data)
         }
       else if (test_num == 2)
         {
+          ClutterActorBox over_actor_box =
+            CLUTTER_ACTOR_BOX_INIT (0, 0, STAGE_WIDTH, STAGE_HEIGHT);
+
           /* Make the actor visible but set a clip so that only some
              of the actors are accessible */
           clutter_actor_show (over_actor);
@@ -76,6 +79,11 @@ on_timeout (gpointer data)
                                   state->actor_width * (ACTORS_X - 4),
                                   state->actor_height * (ACTORS_Y - 4));
 
+          /* Only allocated actors can be picked, so force an allocation
+           * of the overlay actor here.
+           */
+          clutter_actor_allocate (over_actor, &over_actor_box, 0);
+
           if (g_test_verbose ())
             g_print ("Clipped covering actor:\n");
         }