diff --git a/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py b/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py
index 15bde11..c759876 100644
--- a/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py
+++ b/shared/repositories/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -31,11 +31,6 @@ from shared.repositories.src.implementations import (
 # set random seed for reproducibility
 random.seed(13)
 
-# load local test environment variables
-test_env_path = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.parent.parent / 'test.env'
-load_dotenv(test_env_path.as_posix())
-load_dotenv(os.getenv('GITHUB_ENV', default='.'))
-
 # define test environment variables
 necessary_env_vars = {
     'MINIO_ENDPOINT',
@@ -57,6 +52,11 @@ def setup_env(
     request: pytest.FixtureRequest,
 ) -> None:
     """Populate environment with variables used for testing."""
+    # load in optional local test environment variables
+    test_env_path = Path(__file__).parent.parent.parent.parent.parent / 'test.env'
+    load_dotenv(test_env_path)
+    # load in optional CI environment variables
+    load_dotenv(os.getenv('GITHUB_ENV'))
     # check if necessary env vars are set
     for key in necessary_env_vars:
         assert key in os.environ, f'{key} not set'