diff --git a/apps/emqx_management/test/emqx_mgmt_api_status_SUITE.erl b/apps/emqx_management/test/emqx_mgmt_api_status_SUITE.erl
index 64d9b032f..bda7cd57c 100644
--- a/apps/emqx_management/test/emqx_mgmt_api_status_SUITE.erl
+++ b/apps/emqx_management/test/emqx_mgmt_api_status_SUITE.erl
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ groups() ->
 init_per_suite(Config) ->
     Apps = emqx_cth_suite:start(
         [
+            %% Dashboard implicitly loads full schema so we must make preparations for it
+            %% to be valid (see `emqx_cth_suite:default_appspec(emqx_conf, SuiteOpts)`).
+            %% Otherwise, restarting `emqx` will fail in `t_status_not_ok`
+            emqx_conf,
             emqx,
             emqx_management,
             emqx_mgmt_api_test_util:emqx_dashboard()