diff --git a/test/functional/interface_zmq.py b/test/functional/interface_zmq.py
--- a/test/functional/interface_zmq.py
+++ b/test/functional/interface_zmq.py
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@
 
         self.socket.setsockopt(zmq.SUBSCRIBE, self.topic)
 
-    def receive(self):
+    # Receive message from publisher and verify that topic and sequence match
+    def _receive_from_publisher_and_check(self):
         topic, body, seq = self.socket.recv_multipart()
         # Topic should match the subscriber topic.
         assert_equal(topic, self.topic)
@@ -48,13 +49,11 @@
         self.sequence += 1
         return body
 
+    def receive(self):
+        return self._receive_from_publisher_and_check()
+
     def receive_sequence(self):
-        topic, body, seq = self.socket.recv_multipart()
-        # Topic should match the subscriber topic.
-        assert_equal(topic, self.topic)
-        # Sequence should be incremental.
-        assert_equal(struct.unpack('<I', seq)[-1], self.sequence)
-        self.sequence += 1
+        body = self._receive_from_publisher_and_check()
         hash = body[:32].hex()
         label = chr(body[32])
         mempool_sequence = None if len(