diff --git a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/__tests__/new.js b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/__tests__/new.js
index 570a94f5662b1..4465bd805d3a6 100644
--- a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/__tests__/new.js
+++ b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/__tests__/new.js
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ const clean = dir => execa(`yarn`, ["del-cli", dir])
 describe(`gatsby new`, () => {
   // make folder for us to create sites into
   const dir = join(__dirname, "../execution-folder")
-  const originalPackageManager = getConfigStore().get("cli.packageManager")
+  const originalPackageManager =
+    getConfigStore().get("cli.packageManager") || `npm`
 
   beforeAll(async () => {
     await clean(dir)
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ describe(`gatsby new`, () => {
   })
 
   afterAll(async () => {
-    GatsbyCLI.from(cwd).invoke([`options`, `set`,`pm`, originalPackageManager])
+    GatsbyCLI.from(cwd).invoke([`options`, `set`, `pm`, originalPackageManager])
     await clean(dir)
   })
 
diff --git a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/jest.boot.js b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/jest.boot.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..242e23ed3b65c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/jest.boot.js
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+const path = require(`path`)
+const execa = require(`execa`)
+const fs = require(`fs-extra`)
+
+module.exports = async () => {
+  console.log(
+    `Installing "gatsby-cli" in sandbox directory: "${process.env.GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION}"`
+  )
+  console.log(
+    `Tests will use "${process.env.GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION}/node_modules/.bin/gatsby" CLI to invoke commands`
+  )
+
+  await fs.ensureDir(process.env.GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION)
+
+  await fs.outputJson(
+    path.join(process.env.GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION, `package.json`),
+    {
+      dependencies: {
+        "gatsby-cli": "latest",
+      },
+    }
+  )
+
+  const gatsbyDevLocation = path.join(
+    __dirname,
+    `..`,
+    `..`,
+    `packages`,
+    `gatsby-dev-cli`,
+    `dist`,
+    `index.js`
+  )
+
+  await execa.node(gatsbyDevLocation, [`--force-install`, `--scan-once`], {
+    cwd: process.env.GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION,
+    stdio: `inherit`,
+    env: {
+      // we don't want to run gatsby-dev in with NODE_ENV=test
+      NODE_ENV: `production`,
+    },
+  })
+}
diff --git a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/jest.config.js b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/jest.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a561d40a50ecd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/jest.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+const fs = require(`fs`)
+const path = require(`path`)
+const os = require(`os`)
+const baseConfig = require(`../jest.config.js`)
+
+// install global gatsby-cli to tmp dir to simulate sandbox
+const GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION = (process.env.GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION = fs.mkdtempSync(
+  path.join(os.tmpdir(), `gatsby-cli-`)
+))
+
+module.exports = {
+  ...baseConfig,
+  globalSetup: "<rootDir>/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/jest.boot.js",
+  rootDir: `../../`,
+  globals: {
+    GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION,
+  },
+}
diff --git a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/package.json b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/package.json
index 26aab2b690309..8a220609a218f 100644
--- a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/package.json
+++ b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/package.json
@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@
   "name": "gatsby-cli-tests",
   "version": "1.0.0",
   "dependencies": {
-    "gatsby-cli": "^2.12.29",
     "strip-ansi": "^6.0.0"
   },
   "license": "MIT",
   "scripts": {
-    "test": "jest --config=../jest.config.js gatsby-cli/"
+    "test": "jest --config=./jest.config.js gatsby-cli/"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "del-cli": "^3.0.1",
diff --git a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/test-helpers/invoke-cli.js b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/test-helpers/invoke-cli.js
index 809fd82629317..cbf1e1f8cb86e 100644
--- a/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/test-helpers/invoke-cli.js
+++ b/integration-tests/gatsby-cli/test-helpers/invoke-cli.js
@@ -1,7 +1,14 @@
 import execa, { sync } from "execa"
-import { join, resolve } from "path"
+import { join } from "path"
 import { createLogsMatcher } from "./matcher"
 
+const gatsbyBinLocation = join(
+  GLOBAL_GATSBY_CLI_LOCATION,
+  `node_modules`,
+  `.bin`,
+  `gatsby`
+)
+
 // Use as `GatsbyCLI.cwd('execution-folder').invoke('new', 'foo')`
 export const GatsbyCLI = {
   from(relativeCwd) {
@@ -9,14 +16,10 @@ export const GatsbyCLI = {
       invoke(args) {
         const NODE_ENV = args[0] === `develop` ? `development` : `production`
         try {
-          const results = sync(
-            resolve(`./node_modules/.bin/gatsby`),
-            [].concat(args),
-            {
-              cwd: join(__dirname, `../`, `./${relativeCwd}`),
-              env: { NODE_ENV, CI: 1, GATSBY_LOGGER: `ink` },
-            }
-          )
+          const results = sync(gatsbyBinLocation, [].concat(args), {
+            cwd: join(__dirname, `../`, `./${relativeCwd}`),
+            env: { NODE_ENV, CI: 1, GATSBY_LOGGER: `ink` },
+          })
 
           return [
             results.exitCode,
@@ -32,14 +35,10 @@ export const GatsbyCLI = {
 
       invokeAsync: (args, onExit) => {
         const NODE_ENV = args[0] === `develop` ? `development` : `production`
-        const res = execa(
-          resolve(`./node_modules/.bin/gatsby`),
-          [].concat(args),
-          {
-            cwd: join(__dirname, `../`, `./${relativeCwd}`),
-            env: { NODE_ENV, CI: 1, GATSBY_LOGGER: `ink` },
-          }
-        )
+        const res = execa(gatsbyBinLocation, [].concat(args), {
+          cwd: join(__dirname, `../`, `./${relativeCwd}`),
+          env: { NODE_ENV, CI: 1, GATSBY_LOGGER: `ink` },
+        })
 
         const logs = []
         res.stdout.on("data", data => {