diff --git a/.env.test b/.env.test
index effe1303..f6b129af 100644
--- a/.env.test
+++ b/.env.test
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+NODE_ENV='test'
 ACCESS_TOKEN_COOKIE_NAME='edx-jwt-cookie-header-payload'
 BASE_URL='localhost:2000'
 CREDENTIALS_BASE_URL='http://localhost:18150'