diff --git a/codex-rs/core/tests/suite/live_cli.rs b/codex-rs/core/tests/suite/live_cli.rs
index c5c26a1c8..5e2c0415e 100644
--- a/codex-rs/core/tests/suite/live_cli.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/core/tests/suite/live_cli.rs
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ fn run_live(prompt: &str) -> (assert_cmd::assert::Assert, TempDir) {
     use std::thread;
 
     let dir = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let home = TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let codex_home = home.path().join(".codex");
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&codex_home).unwrap();
 
     // Build a plain `std::process::Command` so we have full control over the underlying stdio
     // handles. `assert_cmd`’s own `Command` wrapper always forces stdout/stderr to be piped
@@ -33,6 +36,8 @@ fn run_live(prompt: &str) -> (assert_cmd::assert::Assert, TempDir) {
     let mut cmd = Command::new(codex_utils_cargo_bin::cargo_bin("codex-rs").unwrap());
     cmd.current_dir(dir.path());
     cmd.env("OPENAI_API_KEY", require_api_key());
+    cmd.env("HOME", home.path());
+    cmd.env("CODEX_HOME", &codex_home);
 
     // We want three things at once:
     //   1. live streaming of the child’s stdout/stderr while the test is running