diff --git a/src/tests/config/test-config.c b/src/tests/config/test-config.c
index 4d99506c28..6b1d3e36bb 100644
--- a/src/tests/config/test-config.c
+++ b/src/tests/config/test-config.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "nm-test-device.h"
 #include "nm-fake-platform.h"
 #include "nm-logging.h"
+#include "nm-dbus-manager.h"
 
 #include "nm-test-utils.h"
 
@@ -289,6 +290,13 @@ main (int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	nmtst_init_assert_logging (&argc, &argv);
 
+	/* Initialize the DBus manager singleton explicitly, because it is accessed by
+	 * the class initializer of NMDevice (used by the NMTestDevice stub).
+	 * This way, we skip calling nm_dbus_manager_init_bus() which would
+	 * either fail and/or cause unexpected actions in the test.
+	 * */
+	nm_dbus_manager_setup (g_object_new (NM_TYPE_DBUS_MANAGER, NULL));
+
 	nm_fake_platform_setup ();
 
 	g_test_add_func ("/config/simple", test_config_simple);