Before: Save g:ale_buffer_info let g:ale_buffer_info = { \ bufnr(''): { \ 'loclist': [{'bufnr': bufnr(''), 'lnum': 4, 'col': 1, 'text': 'foo'}] \ }, \} let g:original_buffer = bufnr('%') noautocmd new After: Restore unlet! g:original_buffer Execute(Errors should be set in the loclist for the original buffer, not the new one): call ale#list#SetLists( \ g:original_buffer, \ g:ale_buffer_info[(g:original_buffer)].loclist, \ ) AssertEqual [], ale#test#GetLoclistWithoutNewerKeys() AssertEqual 1, len(getloclist(bufwinid(g:original_buffer))) AssertEqual 'foo', getloclist(bufwinid(g:original_buffer))[0].text