diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7650c9587..296b9b39f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 .direnv
 result*
-pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/nixpkgs
+pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/deps_flake
 pkgs/clan-cli/clan_cli/webui/assets
 
 # python
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/conftest.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/conftest.py
index f7f750ade..f5db6eb26 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/conftest.py
@@ -48,6 +48,4 @@ def machine_flake(monkeymodule: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> Generator[Path, None, Non
         )
         # check that an empty config is returned if no json file exists
         monkeymodule.chdir(flake)
-        # monkeypatch get_clan_flake_toplevel to return the flake
-        monkeymodule.setattr("clan_cli.dirs.get_clan_flake_toplevel", lambda: flake)
         yield flake
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/machine_flake/.clan-flake b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/machine_flake/.clan-flake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/machine_flake/flake.nix b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/machine_flake/flake.nix
index 0f76e47fc..ff220a590 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/machine_flake/flake.nix
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/machine_flake/flake.nix
@@ -11,7 +11,12 @@
         (if builtins.pathExists ./machines/machine1.json
         then builtins.fromJSON (builtins.readFile ./machines/machine1.json)
         else { })
-        { nixpkgs.hostPlatform = "x86_64-linux"; }
+        {
+          nixpkgs.hostPlatform = "x86_64-linux";
+          # speed up by not instantiating nixpkgs twice and disable documentation
+          nixpkgs.pkgs = inputs.nixpkgs.legacyPackages.x86_64-linux;
+          documentation.enable = false;
+        }
       ];
     };
   };