diff --git a/glance/tests/unit/test_clients.py b/glance/tests/unit/test_clients.py
index 54963cc3b3..1d4af295f1 100644
--- a/glance/tests/unit/test_clients.py
+++ b/glance/tests/unit/test_clients.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
 UUID2 = _gen_uuid()
 
 #NOTE(bcwaldon): needed to init config_dir cli opt
-config.parse_args()
+config.parse_args(args=[])
 
 
 class TestRegistryClient(base.IsolatedUnitTest):
diff --git a/glance/tests/utils.py b/glance/tests/utils.py
index 706f897d90..c4eb464be9 100644
--- a/glance/tests/utils.py
+++ b/glance/tests/utils.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def setUp(self):
         #NOTE(bcwaldon): parse_args has to be called to register certain
         # command-line options - specifically we need config_dir for
         # the following policy tests
-        config.parse_args()
+        config.parse_args(args=[])
 
     def tearDown(self):
         super(BaseTestCase, self).tearDown()