diff --git a/tests/test_creation.py b/tests/test_creation.py
index 4cbd1aee..13684325 100644
--- a/tests/test_creation.py
+++ b/tests/test_creation.py
@@ -192,7 +192,6 @@ def test_precommit(self):
     def test_install(self):
         """Test `make install` command."""
         with ch_dir(self.path):
-            shell(["conda", "deactivate"])
             shell(["make", "install"])
 
             output = "".join(shell(["bash", "-c", "source .envrc && which python"]))
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/environment.yaml b/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/environment.yaml
index 2ff61dae..b415acaa 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/environment.yaml	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.repo_name }}/environment.yaml	
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 channels:
+  - nodefaults
   - conda-forge
 dependencies:
   - pip