diff --git a/pkgs/test/nixpkgs-check-by-name/default.nix b/pkgs/test/nixpkgs-check-by-name/default.nix
index a997fc8612c8..cb8a672bc990 100644
--- a/pkgs/test/nixpkgs-check-by-name/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/test/nixpkgs-check-by-name/default.nix
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ let
         export NIX_LOG_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/var/log/nix
         export NIX_STATE_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/var/nix
         export NIX_STORE_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/store
+
+        # cargo tests run in parallel by default, which would then run into
+        # https://github.com/NixOS/nix/issues/2706 unless the store is initialised first
+        nix-store --init
       '';
       postCheck = ''
         cargo fmt --check