diff --git a/integration-tests/macros/macro_with_ref.sql b/integration-tests/macros/macro_with_ref.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..af0a716
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-tests/macros/macro_with_ref.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{% macro macro_with_ref() %}
+  {% set dummy = dbt_unit_testing.ref('model_a') %}
+{% endmacro %}
diff --git a/macros/tests.sql b/macros/tests.sql
index 1bb6752..7d24114 100644
--- a/macros/tests.sql
+++ b/macros/tests.sql
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@
 {% endmacro %}
 
 {% macro running_unit_test() %}
-  {{ return (config.get('tags') and 'unit-test' in config.get('tags')) }}
+  {{ return ('unit-test' in config.get('tags', {})) }}
 {% endmacro %}
 
 {% macro ref_tested_model(model_name) %}
diff --git a/run-integration-tests.sh b/run-integration-tests.sh
index 4d10f42..8a3ab22 100755
--- a/run-integration-tests.sh
+++ b/run-integration-tests.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ if [[ ! -e ~/.dbt/profiles.yml ]]; then
   cp ci/profiles.yml ~/.dbt/profiles.yml
 fi
 
+dbt run-operation macro_with_ref --target "$PROFILE"
+
 dbt deps --target "$PROFILE"
 
 # create seeds in the database