diff --git a/.github/workflows/checks.yml b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
index 8d981cb27..e6c123a2f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/checks.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/checks.yml
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ jobs:
           REDIS_URL: redis://localhost:6379
           NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_EMAIL: ${{ secrets.NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_EMAIL }}
           NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_PASSWORD }}
+          NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT: development
       - name: Run API server
         working-directory: 'notifications-api'
         run: make run-procfile &
@@ -109,6 +110,7 @@ jobs:
           REDIS_URL: redis://localhost:6379
           NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_EMAIL: ${{ secrets.NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_EMAIL }}
           NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.NOTIFY_E2E_TEST_PASSWORD }}
+          NOTIFY_ENVIRONMENT: development
       - name: Run Admin server
         run: make run-flask &
       - name: Run E2E tests