diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/html_equal.js b/packages/svelte/tests/html_equal.js
index 09dd4cb960..cdb8f52e37 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/tests/html_equal.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/html_equal.js
@@ -147,7 +147,6 @@ export function normalize_new_line(html) {
  */
 export const assert_html_equal = (actual, expected, message) => {
 	try {
-		if (actual === '' && expected === '') return;
 		assert.deepEqual(normalize_html(window, actual), normalize_html(window, expected), message);
 	} catch (e) {
 		if (Error.captureStackTrace)
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-legacy/shared.ts b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-legacy/shared.ts
index 13975c68ee..10918ad190 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-legacy/shared.ts
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-legacy/shared.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,7 @@ export interface RuntimeTest<Props extends Record<string, any> = Record<string,
 		warnings: any[];
 		assert: Assert;
 		variant: 'ssr' | 'async-ssr';
+		html: { body: string; head: string };
 	}) => void | Promise<void>;
 	accessors?: boolean;
 	immutable?: boolean;
@@ -356,6 +357,8 @@ async function run_test_variant(
 		const target = window.document.querySelector('main') as HTMLElement;
 
 		let snapshot = undefined;
+		let body = '',
+			head = '';
 
 		if (variant === 'hydrate' || variant === 'ssr' || variant === 'async-ssr') {
 			config.before_test?.();
@@ -369,7 +372,7 @@ async function run_test_variant(
 				variant === 'async-ssr' || (variant === 'hydrate' && compileOptions.experimental?.async)
 					? await render_result
 					: render_result;
-			const { body, head } = rendered;
+			({ body, head } = rendered);
 
 			const prefix = variant === 'async-ssr' ? 'async_' : '';
 			fs.writeFileSync(`${cwd}/_output/${prefix}rendered.html`, body);
@@ -416,7 +419,8 @@ async function run_test_variant(
 						htmlEqual: assert_html_equal,
 						htmlEqualWithOptions: assert_html_equal_with_options
 					},
-					variant
+					variant,
+					html: { body, head }
 				});
 			}
 		} else {
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/boolean-attributes/_config.js b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/boolean-attributes/_config.js
index 21615695f1..15ac1b6f11 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/boolean-attributes/_config.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/boolean-attributes/_config.js
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
-import { getSsrHtml, test } from '../../test';
+import { test } from '../../test';
 
 export default test({
 	skip: true,
 	mode: ['server'],
-	test_ssr({ assert }) {
-		const html = getSsrHtml(import.meta.dirname);
-		assert.htmlEqualWithOptions(html, `<input disabled="" hidden=""/>`, {
+	test_ssr({ assert, html }) {
+		assert.htmlEqualWithOptions(html.body, `<input disabled="" hidden=""/>`, {
 			preserveComments: false,
 			withoutNormalizeHtml: true
 		});
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/comment-marker/_config.js b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/comment-marker/_config.js
index 709c4ffa85..d830c64b1f 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/comment-marker/_config.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/comment-marker/_config.js
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
-import { getSsrHtml, test } from '../../test';
+import { test } from '../../test';
 
 export default test({
 	mode: ['server'],
-	test_ssr({ assert }) {
-		const html = getSsrHtml(import.meta.dirname);
-		assert.htmlEqualWithOptions(html, '<!--[--><!--[-->foo<!--]--><!--]-->', {
+	test_ssr({ assert, html }) {
+		assert.htmlEqualWithOptions(html.body, '<!--[--><!--[-->foo<!--]--><!--]-->', {
 			preserveComments: true,
 			withoutNormalizeHtml: true
 		});
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/void-tags/_config.js b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/void-tags/_config.js
index 5543ec33c0..eb99a95b4e 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/void-tags/_config.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/samples/void-tags/_config.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { getSsrHtml, test } from '../../test';
+import { test } from '../../test';
 
 const expected = [
 	`<area alt=""/>`,
@@ -21,9 +21,8 @@ const expected = [
 
 export default test({
 	mode: ['server'],
-	test_ssr({ assert }) {
-		const html = getSsrHtml(import.meta.dirname);
-		assert.htmlEqualWithOptions(html, expected, {
+	test_ssr({ assert, html }) {
+		assert.htmlEqualWithOptions(html.body, expected, {
 			preserveComments: false,
 			withoutNormalizeHtml: true
 		});
diff --git a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/test.ts b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/test.ts
index 7cefab3969..416300dc58 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/test.ts
+++ b/packages/svelte/tests/runtime-xhtml/test.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
 // @vitest-environment vitest-xhtml-environment.ts
 
-import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
 import { runtime_suite, ok } from '../runtime-legacy/shared';
 
 const { test, run } = runtime_suite(true);
 
-function getSsrHtml(folder: string) {
-	return readFileSync(`${folder}/_output/rendered.html`, 'utf-8');
-}
-
-export { test, ok, getSsrHtml };
+export { test, ok };
 
 await run(__dirname);