diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/verify.py b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/verify.py
index 69337903d0d..b43f5f10e35 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/verify.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/test/cmd/verify.py
@@ -103,8 +103,7 @@ def test_single_spec_verify_cmd(tmpdir, mock_packages, mock_archive, mock_fetch,
 def test_libraries(tmp_path, install_mockery, mock_fetch):
     gcc = spack.util.executable.which("gcc", required=True)
     s = spack.concretize.concretize_one("libelf")
-    spack.installer.PackageInstaller([s.package]).install()
-    os.mkdir(s.prefix.bin)
+    spack.installer.PackageInstaller([s.package], fake=True).install()
 
     # There are no ELF files so the verification should pass
     verify("libraries", f"/{s.dag_hash()}")