diff --git a/ase/test/awk/t16.awk b/ase/test/awk/t16.awk
index 6374f25d..f3673303 100644
--- a/ase/test/awk/t16.awk
+++ b/ase/test/awk/t16.awk
@@ -1 +1 @@
-{ $0="     "; /*print NF;*/ print "a" $0 "b"; }
+{ $0="     "; /*print NF;*/ print "a" $0 "b"; x = $1; }