diff --git a/django/website/rest_api/tests/taxonomy_and_term_create_tests.py b/django/website/rest_api/tests/taxonomy_and_term_create_tests.py
index 9e5a1bc059c7e5d00595bb480c387be4cbaa2525..8a297d204df237117439176a6462a41f73cd78c6 100644
--- a/django/website/rest_api/tests/taxonomy_and_term_create_tests.py
+++ b/django/website/rest_api/tests/taxonomy_and_term_create_tests.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from rest_framework.test import APIRequestFactory
 from rest_framework import status
 
-from taxonomies.models import Taxonomy, Term
+from taxonomies.models import Term
 from ..serializers import TermSerializer
 from ..views import (
     TaxonomyViewSet,
@@ -25,6 +25,14 @@ def create_category(name):
     return view(request, pk=id)
 
 
+def taxonomy_exists(name):
+    taxonomies = get_taxonomies().data
+
+    names = [t['name'] for t in taxonomies]
+
+    return name in names
+
+
 def count_taxonomies():
     return len(get_taxonomies().data)
 
@@ -44,7 +52,7 @@ def test_create_a_category():
     category = "Test Ebola Questions"
 
     old_count = count_taxonomies()
-    assert not Taxonomy.objects.filter(name=category).exists()
+    assert not taxonomy_exists(category)
 
     response = create_category(category)
     assert status.is_success(response.status_code), response.data
@@ -52,7 +60,7 @@ def test_create_a_category():
     new_count = count_taxonomies()
     assert new_count - old_count == 1
 
-    assert Taxonomy.objects.filter(name=category).exists()
+    assert taxonomy_exists(category)
 
 
 # TODO: write test for getting taxonomies and terms, so we can re-write all