diff --git a/tests/integration/cli/utils.go b/tests/integration/cli/utils.go
index aba0f8dc88..236129fec9 100644
--- a/tests/integration/cli/utils.go
+++ b/tests/integration/cli/utils.go
@@ -85,14 +85,17 @@ func runDefraNode(t *testing.T, conf DefraNodeConfig) func() []string {
 
 	cfg := config.DefaultConfig()
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	go func() {
+	ready := make(chan struct{})
+	go func(ready chan struct{}) {
 		defraCmd := cli.NewDefraCommand(cfg)
 		defraCmd.RootCmd.SetArgs(
 			append([]string{"start"}, args...),
 		)
+		ready <- struct{}{}
 		err := defraCmd.Execute(ctx)
 		assert.NoError(t, err)
-	}()
+	}(ready)
+	<-ready
 	time.Sleep(1 * time.Second) // time buffer for it to start
 	cancelAndOutput := func() []string {
 		cancel()
@@ -112,7 +115,7 @@ func runDefraCommand(t *testing.T, conf DefraNodeConfig, args []string) (stdout,
 		"--url", conf.APIURL,
 	}, args...)
 	if !contains(args, "--rootdir") {
-		args = append(args, "--rootdir", t.TempDir())
+		args = append(args, "--rootdir", conf.rootDir)
 	}
 
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), COMMAND_TIMEOUT_SECONDS*time.Second)