diff --git a/xdcr/xdcr_test.go b/xdcr/xdcr_test.go
index f198116a8c..de607f71c3 100644
--- a/xdcr/xdcr_test.go
+++ b/xdcr/xdcr_test.go
@@ -643,7 +643,8 @@ func TestVVMultiActor(t *testing.T) {
 	// Create document on source
 	docID := "doc1"
 	ver1Body := `{"ver":1}`
-	fromCAS, err := fromDs.WriteCas(docID, 0, 0, []byte(ver1Body), 0)
+	// write with user xattr to prevent echo for xattrs defined on source and target
+	fromCAS, err := fromDs.WriteWithXattrs(ctx, docID, 0, 0, []byte(ver1Body), map[string][]byte{"userxattr": []byte(`{"dummy": "xattr"}`)}, nil, nil)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// start bidirectional XDCR