diff --git a/packages/cli/src/config/index.ts b/packages/cli/src/config/index.ts
index 59962ff774..5fa96e75ab 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/config/index.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/config/index.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ if (inE2ETests) {
 	process.env.N8N_AI_ENABLED = 'true';
 } else if (inTest) {
 	process.env.N8N_LOG_LEVEL = 'silent';
-	process.env.N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY = 'test_key';
 	process.env.N8N_PUBLIC_API_DISABLED = 'true';
 	process.env.SKIP_STATISTICS_EVENTS = 'true';
 } else {
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/setup-test-folder.ts b/packages/cli/test/setup-test-folder.ts
index 3709ed250b..4435df5ece 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/setup-test-folder.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/test/setup-test-folder.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { tmpdir } from 'os';
 import { join } from 'path';
 import { mkdirSync, mkdtempSync, writeFileSync } from 'fs';
 
+process.env.N8N_ENCRYPTION_KEY = 'test_key';
+
 const baseDir = join(tmpdir(), 'n8n-tests/');
 mkdirSync(baseDir, { recursive: true });