diff --git a/contrib/debian/tests/ci b/contrib/debian/tests/ci
index 39a306f63..f937041d3 100755
--- a/contrib/debian/tests/ci
+++ b/contrib/debian/tests/ci
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -e
+# try loading the mtdram module to run our mtd tests
+modprobe mtdram || true
 sed "s,^DisabledPlugins=.*,DisabledPlugins=," -i /etc/fwupd/daemon.conf
 sed "s,^VerboseDomains=.*,VerboseDomains=*,"  -i /etc/fwupd/daemon.conf
 sed "s,ConditionVirtualization=.*,," 		\