diff --git a/.test-conda-env-py3.yml b/.test-conda-env-py3.yml
index e100bf36ad8a67c1722eb08a92ad1c1382b74660..8522f3a8071cf92a8746ee3d1f919a43effe5f48 100644
--- a/.test-conda-env-py3.yml
+++ b/.test-conda-env-py3.yml
@@ -11,4 +11,7 @@ dependencies:
 - pyopencl
 - python=3
 - gmsh
+
+# test scripts use ompi-specific arguments
+- openmpi
 - mpi4py