diff --git a/cli/container.go b/cli/container.go
index f499c5e0..64bb0d67 100644
--- a/cli/container.go
+++ b/cli/container.go
@@ -152,8 +152,10 @@ func createServer(spec *ClusterSpec) (string, error) {
 	}
 
 	// copy the registry configuration
-	if err := writeRegistriesConfigInContainer(spec, id); err != nil {
-		return "", err
+	if spec.RegistryEnabled {
+		if err := writeRegistriesConfigInContainer(spec, id); err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
 	}
 
 	if err := startContainer(id); err != nil {
@@ -248,8 +250,10 @@ func createWorker(spec *ClusterSpec, postfix int) (string, error) {
 	}
 
 	// copy the registry configuration
-	if err := writeRegistriesConfigInContainer(spec, id); err != nil {
-		return "", err
+	if spec.RegistryEnabled {
+		if err := writeRegistriesConfigInContainer(spec, id); err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
 	}
 
 	if err := startContainer(id); err != nil {
diff --git a/tests/01-basic.sh b/tests/01-basic.sh
index c296b064..71597806 100755
--- a/tests/01-basic.sh
+++ b/tests/01-basic.sh
@@ -8,8 +8,15 @@ source "$CURR_DIR/common.sh"
 
 #########################################################################################
 
+FIXTURES_DIR=$CURR_DIR/fixtures
+
+# a dummy registries.yaml file
+REGISTRIES_YAML=$FIXTURES_DIR/01-registries-empty.yaml
+
+#########################################################################################
+
 info "Creating two clusters..."
-$EXE create --wait 60 --name "c1" --api-port 6443 || failed "could not create cluster c1"
+$EXE create --wait 60 --name "c1" --api-port 6443 -v $REGISTRIES_YAML:/etc/rancher/k3s/registries.yaml || failed "could not create cluster c1"
 $EXE create --wait 60 --name "c2" --api-port 6444 || failed "could not create cluster c2"
 
 info "Checking we have access to both clusters..."
diff --git a/tests/common.sh b/tests/common.sh
index fc726144..b536cdbb 100755
--- a/tests/common.sh
+++ b/tests/common.sh
@@ -58,12 +58,14 @@ check_url() {
 }
 
 check_k3d_clusters() {
+  [ -n "$EXE" ] || abort "EXE is not defined"
   for c in "c1" "c2" ; do
     kc=$($EXE get-kubeconfig --name "$c")
-    if kubectl --kubeconfig=$kc cluster-info ; then
-      passed "cluster $c is reachable"
+    [ -n "$kc" ] || abort "could not obtain a kubeconfig for $c"
+    if kubectl --kubeconfig="$kc" cluster-info ; then
+      passed "cluster $c is reachable (with kubeconfig=$kc)"
     else
-      warn "could not obtain cluster info for $c with kubeconfig=$kc. Contents:\n$(cat $kc)"
+      warn "could not obtain cluster info for $c (with kubeconfig=$kc). Contents:\n$(cat $kc)"
       return 1
     fi
   done
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/01-registries-empty.yaml b/tests/fixtures/01-registries-empty.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d39ac5dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/01-registries-empty.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+mirrors:
+  "dummy.local":
+    endpoint:
+      - http://localhost:32000