diff --git a/shade/tests/unit/base.py b/shade/tests/unit/base.py
index 9da294d85..bbbcab7b0 100644
--- a/shade/tests/unit/base.py
+++ b/shade/tests/unit/base.py
@@ -535,6 +535,12 @@ class RequestsMockTestCase(BaseTestCase):
             key = '{method}|{uri}|{params}'.format(
                 method=method, uri=uri, params=kw_params)
             validate = to_mock.pop('validate', {})
+            valid_keys = set(['json', 'headers', 'params'])
+            invalid_keys = set(validate.keys()) - valid_keys
+            if invalid_keys:
+                raise TypeError(
+                    "Invalid values passed to validate: {keys}".format(
+                        keys=invalid_keys))
             headers = structures.CaseInsensitiveDict(to_mock.pop('headers',
                                                                  {}))
             if 'content-type' not in headers:
diff --git a/shade/tests/unit/test_identity_roles.py b/shade/tests/unit/test_identity_roles.py
index 0767345e8..05db5ba3f 100644
--- a/shade/tests/unit/test_identity_roles.py
+++ b/shade/tests/unit/test_identity_roles.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ class TestIdentityRoles(base.RequestsMockTestCase):
                  uri=self.get_mock_url(),
                  status_code=200,
                  json=role_data.json_response,
-                 validate=role_data.json_request),
+                 validate=dict(json=role_data.json_request)),
             dict(method='GET',
                  uri=self.get_mock_url(append=[role_data.role_id]),
                  status_code=200,