Abstract
Characterization of quantum states and devices is paramount to quantum science and technology. The characterization consists of individual measurements, which must be precisely known. A mismatch between actual and assumed constituent measurements limits the accuracy of this characterization. We show that such a mismatch introduces reconstruction artifacts in quantum state tomography. We use these artifacts to detect and quantify the mismatch, gaining information about the actual measurement operators. It consequently allows the mitigation of systematic errors in both quantum measurement and state preparation, improving the precision of state control and characterization. The practical utility of our approach is experimentally demonstrated.