diff --git a/tests/browser.sh b/tests/browser.sh
index c1e652b..adcb306 100755
--- a/tests/browser.sh
+++ b/tests/browser.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ su -c 'echo foobar | sudo --stdin whoami' - admin
 # create user account for running the test
 if ! id runtest 2>/dev/null; then
     useradd -c 'Test runner' runtest
+    # allow test to set up things on the machine
+    mkdir -p /root/.ssh
+    curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cockpit-project/bots/master/machine/identity.pub  >> /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
+    chmod 600 /root/.ssh/authorized_keys
 fi
 chown -R runtest "$SOURCE"