diff --git a/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands.go b/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands.go
index b7e32334..b96dea50 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands.go
@@ -29,11 +29,6 @@ func (c *CommandOutput) ValidateCommandOutput(stdoutOutput, stderrOutput strings
 func (e *ExpectedOutput) validateOutput(outputType string, actualValue string) error {
 	expectedValue := e.ExpectedValue
 	switch e.MatchType {
-	case MatchEquals:
-		if actualValue != expectedValue {
-			return fmt.Errorf("expected exact %s: %s, got: %s", outputType, expectedValue, actualValue)
-		}
-
 	case MatchContains:
 		if !strings.Contains(actualValue, expectedValue) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("expected %s to contain: %s, but it did not", outputType, expectedValue)
@@ -44,8 +39,10 @@ func (e *ExpectedOutput) validateOutput(outputType string, actualValue string) e
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s did not match wildcard pattern: %s", outputType, expectedValue)
 		}
 
-	default:
-		return fmt.Errorf("invalid %s match type: %s", outputType, e.MatchType)
+	default: // MatchEquals
+		if actualValue != expectedValue {
+			return fmt.Errorf("expected exact %s: %s, got: %s", outputType, expectedValue, actualValue)
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands_test.go b/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands_test.go
index 08d21267..1c3d1dd9 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/testharness/v1beta1/commands_test.go
@@ -270,6 +270,21 @@ func TestValidateCommandOutput(t *testing.T) {
 			}(),
 			wantErr: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "Empty Expected Output",
+			cmdOutput: CommandOutput{
+				Stderr: &ExpectedOutput{
+					MatchType:     MatchContains,
+					ExpectedValue: "",
+				},
+			},
+			stderrOutput: func() strings.Builder {
+				b := strings.Builder{}
+				b.WriteString("Empty Expected Output")
+				return b
+			}(),
+			wantErr: false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tt := range tests {