diff --git a/tests/topotests/conftest.py b/tests/topotests/conftest.py
index f79ca71a64..2a57f6c26e 100755
--- a/tests/topotests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/topotests/conftest.py
@@ -232,6 +232,9 @@ def pytest_configure(config):
     Assert that the environment is correctly configured, and get extra config.
     """
 
+    if config.getoption("--collect-only"):
+        return
+
     if "PYTEST_XDIST_WORKER" not in os.environ:
         os.environ["PYTEST_XDIST_MODE"] = config.getoption("dist", "no")
         os.environ["PYTEST_TOPOTEST_WORKER"] = ""