diff --git a/tests/broker/brokertest.py b/tests/broker/brokertest.py
index 2ee6b0067..93ae8e8ca 100755
--- a/tests/broker/brokertest.py
+++ b/tests/broker/brokertest.py
@@ -608,6 +608,8 @@ def gitcommand_raw(self, command, **kwargs):
             args = [command]
         args.insert(0, self.config.lookup_tool("git"))
         env = self.gitenv(kwargs.pop("env", None))
+        env["HOME"] = os.environ.get("HOME", "/home/travis")
+
         p = Popen(args, stdout=PIPE, stderr=PIPE, env=env, **kwargs)
         return p