diff --git a/cmd/osbuild-image-tests/main_test.go b/cmd/osbuild-image-tests/main_test.go
index 2b9c2e2f9..c82147487 100644
--- a/cmd/osbuild-image-tests/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/osbuild-image-tests/main_test.go
@@ -125,19 +125,28 @@ func (*timeoutError) Error() string { return "" }
 // that 10 seconds or if systemd-is-running returns starting.
 // It returns nil if systemd-is-running returns running or degraded.
 // It can also return other errors in other error cases.
-func trySSHOnce(ns netNS) error {
+func trySSHOnce(ns *netNS) error {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
-	cmd := ns.NamespacedCommandContext(
-		ctx,
-		"ssh",
+
+	cmdName := "ssh"
+	cmdArgs := []string{
 		"-p", "22",
 		"-i", privateKeyPath,
 		"-o", "StrictHostKeyChecking=no",
 		"-o", "UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null",
 		"redhat@localhost",
 		"systemctl --wait is-system-running",
-	)
+	}
+
+	var cmd *exec.Cmd
+
+	if ns != nil {
+		cmd = ns.NamespacedCommandContext(ctx, cmdName, cmdArgs...)
+	} else {
+		cmd = exec.CommandContext(ctx, cmdName, cmdArgs...)
+	}
+
 	output, err := cmd.Output()
 
 	if ctx.Err() == context.DeadlineExceeded {
@@ -171,7 +180,7 @@ func trySSHOnce(ns netNS) error {
 // testSSH tests the running image using ssh.
 // It tries 20 attempts before giving up. If a major error occurs, it might
 // return earlier.
-func testSSH(t *testing.T, ns netNS) {
+func testSSH(t *testing.T, ns *netNS) {
 	const attempts = 20
 	for i := 0; i < attempts; i++ {
 		err := trySSHOnce(ns)
@@ -203,18 +212,18 @@ func testBoot(t *testing.T, imagePath string, bootType string, outputID string)
 			fallthrough
 		case "qemu-extract":
 			return withBootedQemuImage(imagePath, ns, func() error {
-				testSSH(t, ns)
+				testSSH(t, &ns)
 				return nil
 			})
 		case "nspawn":
 			return withBootedNspawnImage(imagePath, outputID, ns, func() error {
-				testSSH(t, ns)
+				testSSH(t, &ns)
 				return nil
 			})
 		case "nspawn-extract":
 			return withExtractedTarArchive(imagePath, func(dir string) error {
 				return withBootedNspawnDirectory(dir, outputID, ns, func() error {
-					testSSH(t, ns)
+					testSSH(t, &ns)
 					return nil
 				})
 			})