diff --git a/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/TestUtils.java b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/TestUtils.java
index d19a10beb..54934925d 100644
--- a/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/TestUtils.java
+++ b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/TestUtils.java
@@ -1,10 +1,30 @@
 package com.google.refine.tests.util;
 
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
+
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.StringWriter;
+import java.io.Writer;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
+import org.json.JSONException;
+import org.json.JSONObject;
+import org.json.JSONWriter;
+
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParseException;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+
+import com.google.refine.Jsonizable;
+import com.google.refine.util.ParsingUtilities;
 
 
 public class TestUtils {
+    
+    static ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
 
     /**
      * Create a temporary directory. NOTE: This is a quick and dirty
@@ -22,4 +42,37 @@ public class TestUtils {
         return dir;
     }
     
+    /**
+     * Compare two JSON strings for equality.
+     */
+    public static void equalAsJson(String expected, String actual) {
+        try {
+            JsonNode jsonA = mapper.readValue(expected, JsonNode.class);
+            JsonNode jsonB = mapper.readValue(actual, JsonNode.class);
+            assertEquals(jsonA, jsonB);
+        } catch(JsonMappingException e) {
+            fail(e.getMessage());
+        } catch (JsonParseException e) {
+            fail(e.getMessage());
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            fail(e.getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Checks that a serializable object is serialized to the target JSON string.
+     */
+    public static void isSerializedTo(Jsonizable o, String targetJson, Properties options) {
+        Writer w = new StringWriter();
+        JSONWriter jsonWriter = new JSONWriter(w);
+        o.write(jsonWriter, options);
+        equalAsJson(targetJson, w.toString());
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * Checks that a serializable object is serialized to the target JSON string.
+     */
+    public static void isSerializedTo(Jsonizable o, String targetJson) {
+        isSerializedTo(o, targetJson, new Properties());
+    }
 }