diff --git a/_plugins/team.rb b/_plugins/team.rb
index 3d2123f7a..654d9c5da 100644
--- a/_plugins/team.rb
+++ b/_plugins/team.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ def team_photo(name)
         default
       end
     end
-    module_function :team_photo
   end
 end
 Liquid::Template.register_filter(Jekyll::TeamFilter)
diff --git a/spec/_plugins/team_spec.rb b/spec/_plugins/team_spec.rb
index a569443a4..051e5361d 100644
--- a/spec/_plugins/team_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/_plugins/team_spec.rb
@@ -2,12 +2,17 @@
 require 'pry'
 
 RSpec.describe Jekyll::TeamFilter do
+  class TeamFilterClass
+  end
+
   before(:each) do
+    @team_filter = TeamFilterClass.new
+    @team_filter.extend(Jekyll::TeamFilter)
     @baseurl = Jekyll.sites[0].config['baseurl']
   end
+
   it 'returns an image given a name that is an author and has an image' do
-    embed_filter = Jekyll::TeamFilter
-    actual = embed_filter.team_photo('aaron')
+    actual = @team_filter.team_photo('aaron')
     expected = "<img class='img-circle team-img bio-clip'"\
       " src='#{@baseurl}/assets/img/team/aaron.jpg' alt='18F team member Aaron Snow'>"
 
@@ -15,8 +20,7 @@
   end
 
   it 'returns an image given a name that is an author and does not have an image' do
-    embed_filter = Jekyll::TeamFilter
-    actual = embed_filter.team_photo('alan')
+    actual = @team_filter.team_photo('alan')
     expected = "<img class='img-circle team-img bio-clip' "\
         "src='#{@baseurl}/assets/img/logos/18F-Logo-M.png' alt='18F logo'>"
 
@@ -24,8 +28,7 @@
   end
 
   it 'returns an image given a name that is not an author and does not have an image' do
-    embed_filter = Jekyll::TeamFilter
-    actual = embed_filter.team_photo('invalid-name')
+    actual = @team_filter.team_photo('invalid-name')
     expected = "<img class='img-circle team-img bio-clip' "\
         "src='#{@baseurl}/assets/img/logos/18F-Logo-M.png' alt='18F logo'>"