diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c956560739..731ae6cfbb 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@
     "babel": "^5.8.23",
     "babel-core": "^5.8.38",
     "babel-loader": "^5.4.0",
+    "babel-polyfill": "^6.5.0",
     "expect": "^1.16.0",
     "json-loader": "^0.5.3",
     "karma": "^0.13.22",
diff --git a/test/skinned-sdk.js b/test/skinned-sdk.js
index 5d3526b797..869902dcf6 100644
--- a/test/skinned-sdk.js
+++ b/test/skinned-sdk.js
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@
  * application to provide
  */
 
+/* this is a convenient place to ensure we load the compatibility libraries we expect our
+ * app to provide
+ */
+
+// for ES6 stuff like startsWith() and Object.values() that babel doesn't do by
+// default
+require('babel-polyfill');
+
 var sdk = require("../src/index");
 
 var skin = require('../src/component-index.js');