diff --git a/spacy/tests/conftest.py b/spacy/tests/conftest.py
index 50fd175dd..b28d71fed 100644
--- a/spacy/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/spacy/tests/conftest.py
@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@ from ..de import German
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def EN():
-    return English(path=None)
+    return English(path=False)
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def DE():
-    return German(path=None)
+    return German(path=False)
 
 
 def pytest_addoption(parser):