diff --git a/test/testbson.lua b/test/testbson.lua
index d589f01f..815ffdef 100644
--- a/test/testbson.lua
+++ b/test/testbson.lua
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 local bson = require "bson"
 
-sub = bson.encode_order( "hello", 1, "world", 2 )
+local sub = bson.encode_order( "hello", 1, "world", 2 )
+
+do
+	-- check decode encode_order
+	local d = bson.decode(sub)
+	assert(d.hello == 1 )
+	assert(d.world == 2 )
+end
 
 local function tbl_next(...)
 	print("--- next.a", ...)