diff --git a/cmd/openshift-tests/provider.go b/cmd/openshift-tests/provider.go
index 84cd6fe5dcc2..c1fc6d5d5eb4 100644
--- a/cmd/openshift-tests/provider.go
+++ b/cmd/openshift-tests/provider.go
@@ -120,7 +120,8 @@ func decodeProvider(provider string, dryRun, discover bool, clusterState *exutil
 			if clusterState != nil {
 				config, _ = exutilcluster.LoadConfig(clusterState)
 			}
-		} else {
+		}
+		if config == nil {
 			config = &exutilcluster.ClusterConfiguration{}
 		}