diff --git a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_surface_previews.rs b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_surface_previews.rs
index 93f8e8cb13..23339a7fb4 100644
--- a/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_surface_previews.rs
+++ b/codex-rs/tui/src/chatwidget/tests/status_surface_previews.rs
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ async fn status_line_setup_popup_live_only_snapshot() {
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn status_surface_preview_lines_hardcoded_only_snapshot() {
     let (mut chat, _rx, _op_rx) = make_chatwidget_manual(/*model_override*/ None).await;
+    cache_project_root(&mut chat, "my-project");
 
     let snapshot = combined_preview_snapshot(
         &mut chat,
@@ -159,6 +160,7 @@ async fn status_line_setup_popup_hardcoded_only_snapshot() {
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn status_surface_preview_lines_mixed_snapshot() {
     let (mut chat, _rx, _op_rx) = make_chatwidget_manual(/*model_override*/ None).await;
+    cache_project_root(&mut chat, "my-project");
     chat.status_line_branch = Some("feature/mixed-preview".to_string());
     chat.thread_name = Some("Mixed preview thread".to_string());