diff --git a/dev-infra/release/publish/test/test-utils.ts b/dev-infra/release/publish/test/test-utils.ts
index 43a65eb2323..ddbc36e8477 100644
--- a/dev-infra/release/publish/test/test-utils.ts
+++ b/dev-infra/release/publish/test/test-utils.ts
@@ -68,9 +68,6 @@ export function getTestingMocksForReleaseAction() {
 export function setupReleaseActionForTesting<T extends ReleaseAction>(
     actionCtor: ReleaseActionConstructor<T>, active: ActiveReleaseTrains,
     isNextPublishedToNpm = true): TestReleaseAction<T> {
-  installVirtualGitClientSpies();
-  installMockReleaseNotes();
-
   // Reset existing HTTP interceptors.
   nock.cleanAll();
 
@@ -78,6 +75,9 @@ export function setupReleaseActionForTesting<T extends ReleaseAction>(
   const repo = new GithubTestingRepo(githubConfig.owner, githubConfig.name);
   const fork = new GithubTestingRepo('some-user', 'fork');
 
+  installVirtualGitClientSpies(gitClient);
+  installMockReleaseNotes();
+
   // The version for the release-train in the next phase does not necessarily need to be
   // published to NPM. We mock the NPM package request and fake the state of the next
   // version based on the `isNextPublishedToNpm` testing parameter. More details on the
diff --git a/dev-infra/utils/testing/virtual-git-client.ts b/dev-infra/utils/testing/virtual-git-client.ts
index 363a53bee9b..b67fba69c37 100644
--- a/dev-infra/utils/testing/virtual-git-client.ts
+++ b/dev-infra/utils/testing/virtual-git-client.ts
@@ -203,8 +203,7 @@ export class VirtualGitClient extends AuthenticatedGitClient {
   }
 }
 
-export function installVirtualGitClientSpies() {
-  const mockInstance = VirtualGitClient.createInstance();
+export function installVirtualGitClientSpies(mockInstance = VirtualGitClient.createInstance()) {
   spyOn(GitClient, 'get').and.returnValue(mockInstance);
   spyOn(AuthenticatedGitClient, 'get').and.returnValue(mockInstance);
 }