diff --git a/server/routes_create_test.go b/server/routes_create_test.go
index 9fd7f8cd..4de07b25 100644
--- a/server/routes_create_test.go
+++ b/server/routes_create_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package server
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"cmp"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -53,6 +54,8 @@ func (t *responseRecorder) CloseNotify() <-chan bool {
 
 func createRequest(t *testing.T, fn func(*gin.Context), body any) *httptest.ResponseRecorder {
 	t.Helper()
+	// if OLLAMA_MODELS is not set, set it to the temp directory
+	t.Setenv("OLLAMA_MODELS", cmp.Or(os.Getenv("OLLAMA_MODELS"), t.TempDir()))
 
 	w := NewRecorder()
 	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)