diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 08ce2be5a..adda168c2 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -73,8 +73,10 @@ variables:
   echo "Cleaning up $CUSTOM_TOOLCHAIN_PATH"
   rm -rf "$CUSTOM_TOOLCHAIN_PATH"
 
-.setup_tools: &setup_tools |
+.setup_tools_unless_target_test: &setup_tools_unless_target_test |
+  if [ "$CI_JOB_STAGE" != "target_test" ]; then
   tools/idf_tools.py --non-interactive install && eval "$(tools/idf_tools.py --non-interactive export)" || exit 1
+  fi
 
 before_script:
   - source tools/ci/setup_python.sh
@@ -94,7 +96,7 @@ before_script:
   # (the same regular expressions are used to set these are used in 'only:' sections below
   - source tools/ci/configure_ci_environment.sh
 
-  - *setup_tools
+  - *setup_tools_unless_target_test
 
   - *setup_custom_toolchain