diff --git a/external/aot/test.sh b/external/aot/test.sh
index 1e8743efb8..3d03abd8a2 100644
--- a/external/aot/test.sh
+++ b/external/aot/test.sh
@@ -16,12 +16,11 @@ set -e
 echo "Testing AOT"
 aot_failure_msg="AOT header validation failed"
 java -Xjit:verbose -version >output 2>&1
-fail_count=$(grep "$aot_failure_msg" output)
-if [ -z "$fail_count" ]; then
-  echo "Test Passed!"
-else
+if grep -q "$aot_failure_msg" output; then
   cat output
   echo -e "\nError: $aot_failure_msg"
   exit 1
+else
+  echo "Test Passed!"
 fi
 set +e
diff --git a/external/external.sh b/external/external.sh
index 39bb018731..36ea2181a6 100755
--- a/external/external.sh
+++ b/external/external.sh
@@ -298,6 +298,7 @@ if [ $command_type == "load" ]; then
 		if [[ "${JDK_IMPL}" == *"openj9"* ]]; then
 			docker_image_name="ibm-semeru-runtimes:open-${JDK_VERSION}-jdk"
 		fi
+		docker pull $docker_image_name
 		test_script_path="$test_root/external/$test/test.sh"
 		chmod a+x $test_script_path
 		mount_test_script="-v $test_script_path:/test.sh"