diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 2dc9e8f0..ded760c7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -514,6 +514,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Test npm installer smoke (prune, backup, publish)
         if: steps.classify.outputs.changelog_only != 'true' && steps.classify.outputs.docs_only != 'true'
+        env:
+          XDG_CONFIG_HOME: ""
         run: node test/scripts/install_js_smoke.mjs
 
   test-focused: