diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0939adb6..077b8c1e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ export IMAGE_REPO                ?= quay.io/operator-framework/catalogd
 export IMAGE_TAG                 ?= devel
 IMAGE=$(IMAGE_REPO):$(IMAGE_TAG)
 
+# Some CI setups may not have XDG_DATA_HOME or HOME set. One of these is required for setup-envtest to work correctly.
+export XDG_DATA_HOME ?= /tmp/.local/share
+
+# bingo manages consistent tooling versions for things like kind, kustomize, etc.
 include .bingo/Variables.mk
 
 # Dependencies