diff --git a/TESTS/nfc/eeprom/main.cpp b/TESTS/nfc/eeprom/main.cpp
index cbdaf16aaf..d06f26f5a2 100644
--- a/TESTS/nfc/eeprom/main.cpp
+++ b/TESTS/nfc/eeprom/main.cpp
@@ -340,6 +340,10 @@ public:
 
         _step++;
 
+        if (_step == MAX_STEP) {
+            TEST_FAIL_MESSAGE("internal test failure - too many steps");
+        }
+
         execute_next_step();
     }