diff --git a/tests/functional/graphql/02-root-queries.t b/tests/functional/graphql/02-root-queries.t
index 6090975f419..c6dfe0ba3da 100755
--- a/tests/functional/graphql/02-root-queries.t
+++ b/tests/functional/graphql/02-root-queries.t
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ query {
   job(id: \"${USER}${ID_DELIM}${WORKFLOW_NAME}${ID_DELIM}20190101T00${ID_DELIM}foo${ID_DELIM}1\") {
     id
   }
-  jobs(workflows: [\"*${ID_DELIM}*\"], ids: [\"*${ID_DELIM}*${ID_DELIM}1\"], sort: {keys: [\"id\"], reverse: false}) {
+  jobs(workflows: [\"*${ID_DELIM}*\"], ids: [\"*${ID_DELIM}*${ID_DELIM}1\"], submit_time, sort: {keys: [\"id\"], reverse: false}) {
     id
   }
   task(id: \"${USER}${ID_DELIM}${WORKFLOW_NAME}${ID_DELIM}foo\") {
diff --git a/tests/functional/graphql/03-is-held-arg.t b/tests/functional/graphql/03-is-held-arg.t
index fc7c8ca9353..7f17ab59756 100755
--- a/tests/functional/graphql/03-is-held-arg.t
+++ b/tests/functional/graphql/03-is-held-arg.t
@@ -49,8 +49,12 @@ query {
   workflows {
     name
     isHeldTotal
-    taskProxies(isHeld: false) {
+    taskProxies(isHeld: true) {
       id
+      jobs {
+        submittedTime 
+        startedTime
+      }
     }
     familyProxies(exids: [\"root\"], isHeld: true) {
       id
@@ -69,14 +73,28 @@ run_ok "${TEST_NAME_BASE}-contact" cylc get-contact "${WORKFLOW_NAME}"
 # stop workflow
 cylc stop --max-polls=10 --interval=2 --kill "${WORKFLOW_NAME}"
 
+RESPONSE="${TEST_NAME_BASE}-is-held-arg.stdout" 
+perl -pi -e 's/("submittedTime":).*$/${1} "blargh",/' "${RESPONSE}"
+perl -pi -e 's/("startedTime":).*$/${1} "blargh"/' "${RESPONSE}"
+
 # compare to expectation
-cmp_json "${TEST_NAME}-out" "${TEST_NAME_BASE}-is-held-arg.stdout" << __HERE__
+cmp_json "${TEST_NAME}-out" "$RESPONSE" << __HERE__
 {
     "workflows": [
         {
             "name": "${WORKFLOW_NAME}",
             "isHeldTotal": 1,
-            "taskProxies": [],
+            "taskProxies": [
+                {
+                    "id": "${USER}${ID_DELIM}${WORKFLOW_NAME}${ID_DELIM}1${ID_DELIM}foo",
+                    "jobs": [
+                        {
+                            "submittedTime": "blargh",
+                            "startedTime": "blargh"
+                        }
+                    ]
+                }
+            ],
             "familyProxies": [
                 {
                     "id": "${USER}${ID_DELIM}${WORKFLOW_NAME}${ID_DELIM}1${ID_DELIM}BAZ"
diff --git a/tests/functional/lib/python/diffr.py b/tests/functional/lib/python/diffr.py
index 179e90a68e7..fcc650a3cf2 100644
--- a/tests/functional/lib/python/diffr.py
+++ b/tests/functional/lib/python/diffr.py
@@ -224,8 +224,8 @@ def load_json(file1, file2=None):
     """
     try:
         this = json.loads(file1)
-    except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
-        sys.exit('Syntax error in file1')
+    except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError as exc:
+        sys.exit(f'Syntax error in file1: {exc}')
         raise
 
     try:
@@ -233,8 +233,8 @@ def load_json(file1, file2=None):
             that = json.loads(file2)
         else:
             that = json.load(sys.stdin)
-    except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError:
-        sys.exit('Syntax error in file2')
+    except json.decoder.JSONDecodeError as exc:
+        sys.exit(f'Syntax error in file2: {exc}')
         raise
 
     return this, that