diff --git a/src/connectivity_functions.jl b/src/connectivity_functions.jl
index aa845354..28e36ce1 100644
--- a/src/connectivity_functions.jl
+++ b/src/connectivity_functions.jl
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ build_node_maps(rd::RefElemData{3, <:Union{Tet, Hex}}, FToF, Xf; kwargs...) =
 # in rd.element_type.node_ids_by_face.
 # !!! note: this version infers `num_elements` from the dimensions of `FToF::Matrix`. 
 # !!! this will not work for adaptive meshes, where `FToF` will be a `Vector`.
-function build_node_maps(rd::RefElemData{3, <:Union{Wedge, Pyr}}, FToF, Xf; tol = 100 * eps())    
+function build_node_maps(rd::RefElemData{3, <:Union{Wedge, Pyr}}, FToF, Xf; tol = 1e3 * eps())    
 
     _, num_elements = size(FToF)
     (; element_type) = rd
diff --git a/test/MeshData_wedge_pyr_tests.jl b/test/MeshData_wedge_pyr_tests.jl
index e3a139c6..731a8124 100644
--- a/test/MeshData_wedge_pyr_tests.jl
+++ b/test/MeshData_wedge_pyr_tests.jl
@@ -2,6 +2,14 @@ approx_elem_types_to_test = [(Polynomial(), Wedge()),
                              (Polynomial(), Pyr())]
 
 @testset "3D MeshData tests for wedges and pyramids" begin 
+
+    # tests initialization (mostly checking if tolerances)
+    @testset "Initialization test for $element_type" for (element_type, N) in [(Pyr(), 1), (Pyr(), 4), (Wedge(), 1), (Wedge(), 4)]
+        K1D = 2
+        rd = RefElemData(element_type, N)        
+        md = MeshData(uniform_mesh(element_type, K1D)..., rd; is_periodic=true)
+    end
+
     @testset "$approximation_type $element_type MeshData initialization" for (approximation_type, element_type) in approx_elem_types_to_test
         tol = 5e2*eps()