diff --git a/.kokoro/samples-test.sh b/.kokoro/samples-test.sh
index 78b1a588..ad20341e 100755
--- a/.kokoro/samples-test.sh
+++ b/.kokoro/samples-test.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,13 @@
 
 set -eo pipefail
 
-export NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=${HOME}/.npm-global
+export NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX=/home/node/.npm-global
+
+echo $NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX
+
+ls $NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX || mkdir -p $NPM_CONFIG_PREFIX || echo "potential access error"
+
+npm i -g npm@`npm --version`
 
 # Setup service account credentials.
 export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS=${KOKORO_GFILE_DIR}/secret_manager/long-door-651-kokoro-system-test-service-account