diff --git a/tests/base/node/verify b/tests/base/node/verify
index 8f662b65f..753215533 100755
--- a/tests/base/node/verify
+++ b/tests/base/node/verify
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ set -ex
 # check node system package and its version
 which node
 node --version
-node --version | grep v18
+node --version | grep v20
 
 # npm comes with the nodejs conda-forge package that we have pinned, but we
 # don't have npm pinned. For example nodejs 18.13.0 brought npm 8.19.3, but