diff --git a/tests/Config/ConfigTest.php b/tests/Config/ConfigTest.php
index d0aa56b1cc0..dd6a3fa6b80 100644
--- a/tests/Config/ConfigTest.php
+++ b/tests/Config/ConfigTest.php
@@ -1334,6 +1334,10 @@ function handleThrow(I $e) : void {
 
     public function testModularConfig(): void
     {
+        // hack to isolate Psalm from PHPUnit arguments
+        global $argv;
+        $argv = [];
+
         $root = __DIR__ . '/../fixtures/ModularConfig';
         $config = Config::loadFromXMLFile($root . '/psalm.xml', $root);
         $this->assertEquals(
diff --git a/tests/Config/PluginTest.php b/tests/Config/PluginTest.php
index 61747f6b35f..9c3297633f6 100644
--- a/tests/Config/PluginTest.php
+++ b/tests/Config/PluginTest.php
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ class PluginTest extends TestCase
 
     public static function setUpBeforeClass(): void
     {
+        // hack to isolate Psalm from PHPUnit cli arguments
+        global $argv;
+        $argv = [];
+
         self::$config = new TestConfig();
 
         if (!defined('PSALM_VERSION')) {
diff --git a/tests/ProjectCheckerTest.php b/tests/ProjectCheckerTest.php
index 3e7bf7af31c..da8f75fe0c2 100644
--- a/tests/ProjectCheckerTest.php
+++ b/tests/ProjectCheckerTest.php
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ class ProjectCheckerTest extends TestCase
 
     public static function setUpBeforeClass(): void
     {
+        // hack to stop Psalm seeing the phpunit arguments
+        global $argv;
+        $argv = [];
+
         self::$config = new TestConfig();
 
         if (!defined('PSALM_VERSION')) {