diff --git a/share/spack/qa/setup-env-test.sh b/share/spack/qa/setup-env-test.sh
index 03eb23a6faf..1482a87ad70 100755
--- a/share/spack/qa/setup-env-test.sh
+++ b/share/spack/qa/setup-env-test.sh
@@ -111,7 +111,8 @@ contains "b@" echo $LIST_CONTENT
 does_not_contain "a@" echo $LIST_CONTENT
 fails spack -m load -l
 # test a variable MacOS clears and one it doesn't for recursive loads
-contains "export PATH=$(spack -m location -i a)/bin:$(spack -m location -i b)/bin" spack -m load --sh a
+contains "export PATH=$(spack -m location -i a)/bin" spack -m load --sh a
+contains "export PATH=$(spack -m location -i b)/bin" spack -m load --sh b
 succeeds spack -m load --only dependencies a
 succeeds spack -m load --only package a
 fails spack -m load d