diff --git a/src/__tests__/util.ts b/src/__tests__/util.ts
index d501be5a..8e8500d7 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/util.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/util.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { createFsFromVolume, Volume } from '..';
+import { Link, Node } from '../node';
 
 export const create = (json: { [s: string]: string } = { '/foo': 'bar' }) => {
   const vol = Volume.fromJSON(json);
@@ -8,3 +9,13 @@ export const create = (json: { [s: string]: string } = { '/foo': 'bar' }) => {
 export const createFs = (json?) => {
   return createFsFromVolume(create(json));
 };
+
+export const tryGetChildNode = (link: Link, name: string): Node => {
+  const child = link.getChild(name);
+
+  if (!child) {
+    throw new Error(`expected link to have a child named "${name}"`);
+  }
+
+  return child.getNode();
+};