diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts
index b46e8d7f5350..0a171904cd28 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/cli.ts
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ async function run(cliFilters: string[], options: CliOptions) {
 }
 
 async function start(cliFilters: string[], options: CliOptions) {
+  process.env.TEST = 'true'
   process.env.VITEST = 'true'
   process.env.NODE_ENV = 'test'