diff --git oak-commons/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/commons/FixturesHelper.java oak-commons/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/commons/FixturesHelper.java
index 26c2634..26d0c68 100644
--- oak-commons/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/commons/FixturesHelper.java
+++ oak-commons/src/test/java/org/apache/jackrabbit/oak/commons/FixturesHelper.java
@@ -54,10 +54,14 @@ public final class FixturesHelper {
         } else {
             Set<Fixture> tmp = EnumSet.noneOf(Fixture.class);
             for (String f : raw.split(SPLIT_ON)) {
-                String x = f.trim();
-                Fixture fx = Fixture.valueOf(x.toUpperCase());
-                if (fx != null) {
+                String x = f.trim().toUpperCase();
+                try {
+                    Fixture fx = Fixture.valueOf(x);
                     tmp.add(fx);
+                } catch (IllegalArgumentException e){
+                    if (!"SEGMENT_TAR".equals(x)){
+                        throw e;
+                    }
                 }
             }