diff --git a/.github/workflows/osx_startup.yaml b/.github/workflows/osx_startup.yaml
index 6e9ac215464..b1a95bcf63b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/osx_startup.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/osx_startup.yaml
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ jobs:
   test:
     name: Startup test
     runs-on: macos-latest
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        shell: bash -l {0}
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
       with:
@@ -16,13 +19,12 @@ jobs:
         path: ~/Library/Caches/pip
         # scripts/common_startup.sh creates a conda env for Galaxy containing Python 3.6
         key: pip-cache-3.6-${{ hashFiles('galaxy root/requirements.txt') }}
-    - name: Install tox
-      run: pip install tox
     - name: Install and activate miniconda  # use this job to test using Python from a conda environment
       uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v2
       with:
         activate-environment: ''
+    - name: Install tox
+      run: pip install tox
     - name: run tests
       run: tox -e first_startup
-      shell: bash -l {0}  # need this to have CONDA_EXE set
       working-directory: 'galaxy root'