diff --git a/apptools/persistence/tests/test_state_pickler.py b/apptools/persistence/tests/test_state_pickler.py
index d0de88d9..8cdd41f4 100644
--- a/apptools/persistence/tests/test_state_pickler.py
+++ b/apptools/persistence/tests/test_state_pickler.py
@@ -251,7 +251,9 @@ def verify_state(self, state1, state):
             ).__metadata__["id"]
 
         if TVTK_AVAILABLE:
-            self.assertEqual(state1._tvtk, state._tvtk)
+            # Some of the values are NumPy arrays, so use NumPy's
+            # assert_equal instead of the unittest assertEqual.
+            numpy.testing.assert_equal(state1._tvtk, state._tvtk)
 
         state1.tuple[-1].__metadata__["id"] = state.tuple[-1].__metadata__[
             "id"
diff --git a/docs/releases/upcoming/352.bugfix.rst b/docs/releases/upcoming/352.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9ec16e4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/releases/upcoming/352.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix a test that was broken in the presence of Mayavi / TVTK. (#352)