diff --git a/tests/test_mpsd_software.py b/tests/test_mpsd_software.py
index 22f0ed3b2920f9a7b88d24100f5e0e4d11d87874..287ba6c43f4418c9b6d1c005f7664eae24c81145 100644
--- a/tests/test_mpsd_software.py
+++ b/tests/test_mpsd_software.py
@@ -575,6 +575,11 @@ def test_get_available_releases():
 def test_argument_line_parsing(mocker):
     """Check to find error in argparse logic"""
 
+    # pretend we have a rootdir defined
+    mock = mocker.patch(
+        "mpsd_software_manager.mpsd_software.get_root_dir", return_value=Path(".")
+    )
+
     ### available
     sys.argv = ["mpsd-software-tests", "available"]
     mock = mocker.patch(