diff --git a/src/core/public/i18n/i18n_eui_mapping.test.ts b/src/core/public/i18n/i18n_eui_mapping.test.ts
index 249a9528d258e..d8d48a8e5f1d5 100644
--- a/src/core/public/i18n/i18n_eui_mapping.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/public/i18n/i18n_eui_mapping.test.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,11 @@ describe('@elastic/eui i18n tokens', () => {
       });
 
       test('defaultMessage is in sync with defString', () => {
+        // Certain complex tokens (e.g. ones that have a function as a defaultMessage)
+        // need custom i18n handling, and can't be checked for basic defString equality
+        const tokensToSkip = ['euiColumnSorting.buttonActive'];
+        if (tokensToSkip.includes(token)) return;
+
         // Clean up typical errors from the `@elastic/eui` extraction token tool
         const normalizedDefString = defString
           // Quoted words should use double-quotes
@@ -85,9 +90,6 @@ describe('@elastic/eui i18n tokens', () => {
           .replace(/\s{2,}/g, ' ')
           .trim();
 
-        // Skip defStrings that are functions
-        if (normalizedDefString.match(/^\(.*?\).*?=>/)) return;
-
         expect(i18nTranslateCall[1].defaultMessage).toBe(normalizedDefString);
       });