diff --git a/src/tests/meta-context-test.c b/src/tests/meta-context-test.c
index d798d55e4..c5897af2f 100644
--- a/src/tests/meta-context-test.c
+++ b/src/tests/meta-context-test.c
@@ -91,6 +91,8 @@ meta_context_test_setup (MetaContext  *context,
     settings,
     META_EXPERIMENTAL_FEATURE_SCALE_MONITOR_FRAMEBUFFER);
 
+  meta_set_syncing (!!g_getenv ("MUTTER_SYNC"));
+
   return TRUE;
 }