diff --git a/tests/mpi_test_main.cpp b/tests/mpi_test_main.cpp
index fc137d3bbc1123f5a52bfe6f326ed8fccda308bc..fb0da8569382769cf495dedceb42a91528076dd9 100644
--- a/tests/mpi_test_main.cpp
+++ b/tests/mpi_test_main.cpp
@@ -52,6 +52,9 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
   Catch::Session session;
   int result = session.applyCommandLine(argc, argv);
 
+  // disable file locking to avoid mess in tests
+  setenv("HDF5_USE_FILE_LOCKING", "FALSE", 1);
+
   if (result == 0) {
     const auto& config = session.config();
     if (config.listReporters() or config.listTags() or config.listTests()) {
diff --git a/tests/test_main.cpp b/tests/test_main.cpp
index 9903c7ae52bb2734a9abf5b5137dec5f60e93c5a..d8641d318f243eb624915882a92fc15d57a71346 100644
--- a/tests/test_main.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_main.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,9 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
     Kokkos::initialize(args);
   }
 
+  // disable file locking to avoid mess in tests
+  setenv("HDF5_USE_FILE_LOCKING", "FALSE", 1);
+
   PETScWrapper::initialize(argc, argv);
   SLEPcWrapper::initialize(argc, argv);