diff --git a/hack/test/unit b/hack/test/unit
index 1aea06c54b..a47a93935f 100755
--- a/hack/test/unit
+++ b/hack/test/unit
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 set -eu -o pipefail
 
 BUILDFLAGS=( -tags 'netgo seccomp libdm_no_deferred_remove' )
-TESTFLAGS+="-test.timeout=${TIMEOUT:-5m}"
+TESTFLAGS+=" -test.timeout=${TIMEOUT:-5m}"
 TESTDIRS="${TESTDIRS:-./...}"
 exclude_paths='/vendor/|/integration'
 pkg_list=$(go list $TESTDIRS | grep -vE "($exclude_paths)")