diff --git a/.github/workflows/checks.yaml b/.github/workflows/checks.yaml
index 3656ac6..38f51b0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/checks.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/checks.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ jobs:
   test:
     name: test py${{ matrix.python-version }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      MAVEDB_BASE_URL: http://mavedb.api.org
     strategy:
       matrix:
         python-version: ["3.11", "3.12"]