diff --git a/.github/workflows/test_04_malicious_prompts_rag_and_cot_meta_llama_3_2_3b_instruct.base.yml b/.github/workflows/test_04_malicious_prompts_rag_and_cot_meta_llama_3_2_3b_instruct.base.yml
index 8420c7437..704c47cad 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test_04_malicious_prompts_rag_and_cot_meta_llama_3_2_3b_instruct.base.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test_04_malicious_prompts_rag_and_cot_meta_llama_3_2_3b_instruct.base.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   test:
     uses: ./.github/workflows/test_04.abstract_base.yml
+    secrets: inherit
     with:
       batch_offset: ${{ inputs.batch_offset }}
       range_name: ${{ inputs.range_name }}
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 7ecc78fd8..2bdc6606b 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -70,6 +70,14 @@ def pytest_deselected(items):
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
 def setup_test_environment():
     """Setup run before every test automatically."""
+
+    if "HF_TOKEN" in os.environ:
+        hf_token = os.environ.get("HF_TOKEN", "").strip()
+        if not hf_token:
+            raise ValueError("conftest.py: HF_TOKEN environment variable is empty or not found")
+    else:
+        raise ValueError("conftest.py: HF_TOKEN environment variable not found")
+
     # Set test environment variables
     os.environ["TESTING"] = "true"
     os.environ["LOG_LEVEL"] = "DEBUG"