diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 22721ed465..ba35aff1e6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -136,8 +136,11 @@ addopts = [
     "--cov-report=html:test-reports/coverage_html",
     "--html=test-reports/report.html",
 ]
-log_cli_level = "INFO"
 env = {MPLBACKEND = "Agg"}
+filterwarnings = [
+    "ignore:Do not instantiate `Config` objects directly:UserWarning"
+]
+log_cli_level = "INFO"
 log_level = "WARNING"
 minversion = "6"
 markers = [
diff --git a/tests/unit/config/test_config_object.py b/tests/unit/config/test_config_object.py
index df3a923069..83f9b4e64e 100644
--- a/tests/unit/config/test_config_object.py
+++ b/tests/unit/config/test_config_object.py
@@ -63,8 +63,17 @@ def test_config_key_error():
         config["invalid_key"]
 
 
-def test_reload(cfg_default):
+def test_reload(
+    monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch,
+    tmp_path: Path,
+    cfg_default: Config,
+) -> None:
     """Test `Config.reload`."""
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        esmvalcore.config._config_object,
+        "USER_CONFIG_DIR",
+        tmp_path,
+    )
     cfg = Config()
 
     cfg.reload()