diff --git a/t/helper/test-repository.c b/t/helper/test-repository.c
index 2762ca656262ba..6a84a53efbf691 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-repository.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-repository.c
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ static void test_parse_commit_in_graph(const char *gitdir, const char *worktree,
 	struct commit *c;
 	struct commit_list *parent;
 
-	repo_init(&r, gitdir, worktree);
+	setup_git_env(gitdir);
+
+	if (repo_init(&r, gitdir, worktree))
+		die("Couldn't init repo");
 
 	c = lookup_commit(&r, commit_oid);
 
@@ -38,7 +41,10 @@ static void test_get_commit_tree_in_graph(const char *gitdir,
 	struct commit *c;
 	struct tree *tree;
 
-	repo_init(&r, gitdir, worktree);
+	setup_git_env(gitdir);
+
+	if (repo_init(&r, gitdir, worktree))
+		die("Couldn't init repo");
 
 	c = lookup_commit(&r, commit_oid);