diff --git a/nixos/lib/test-driver/src/test_driver/machine/__init__.py b/nixos/lib/test-driver/src/test_driver/machine/__init__.py
index db96445af912..83e39c0be49b 100644
--- a/nixos/lib/test-driver/src/test_driver/machine/__init__.py
+++ b/nixos/lib/test-driver/src/test_driver/machine/__init__.py
@@ -1587,7 +1587,7 @@ class NspawnMachine(BaseMachine):
         # NOTE If the test calls switch-to-configuration (with a differently configured specialization)
         # this will use the /etc/profile of the new specialisation while `QemuMachine` nodes
         # will continue to use the original /etc/profile.
-        command = f"set -eo pipefail; source /etc/profile; set -u; {command}"
+        command = f"set -eo pipefail; USER=root HOME=/root source /etc/profile; set -u; {command}"
 
         cp = subprocess.run(
             [
diff --git a/nixos/tests/simple-container.nix b/nixos/tests/simple-container.nix
index 269853423651..5cd3478f3d40 100644
--- a/nixos/tests/simple-container.nix
+++ b/nixos/tests/simple-container.nix
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
 {
   name = "simple-container";
 
-  containers.machine = { };
+  containers = {
+    machine = { pkgs, ... }: {
+      users.users.root.packages = [ pkgs.hello ];
+    };
+    noprofile = { };
+  };
 
   testScript = ''
     start_all()
-    machine.wait_for_unit("multi-user.target")
-    machine.shutdown()
+    machine.succeed("hello")
+    noprofile.fail("hello")
   '';
 }