diff --git a/hack/prepare-envtest.sh b/hack/prepare-envtest.sh
index 327db639efc..f5caafd20b0 100755
--- a/hack/prepare-envtest.sh
+++ b/hack/prepare-envtest.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ if ! command -v setup-envtest &> /dev/null ; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
-export KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS="$(setup-envtest use -p path ${ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION})"
+# --use-env allows overwriting the envtest tools path via the KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS env var
+export KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS="$(setup-envtest use --use-env -p path ${ENVTEST_K8S_VERSION})"
 echo "using envtest tools installed at '$KUBEBUILDER_ASSETS'"
 
 source "$(dirname "$0")/test-integration.env"