diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index d65cc3796..db7b9e6ae 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Run tests on Ubuntu Test
       if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
+      env:
+        OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY }}
       run: |
         if [ "${{ matrix.code-cov }}" = "true" ]; then
           codecov="--cov=openml --long --cov-report=xml"
@@ -107,6 +109,8 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Run tests on Ubuntu Production
       if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
+      env:
+        OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY }}
       run: |
         if [ "${{ matrix.code-cov }}" = "true" ]; then
           codecov="--cov=openml --long --cov-report=xml"
@@ -122,6 +126,8 @@ jobs:
 
     - name: Run tests on Windows
       if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+      env:
+        OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY }}
       run: |  # we need a separate step because of the bash-specific if-statement in the previous one.
         pytest -n 4 --durations=20 --dist load -sv --reruns 5 --reruns-delay 1 -m "not uses_test_server"
 
diff --git a/openml/config.py b/openml/config.py
index cf66a6346..e90f03b1d 100644
--- a/openml/config.py
+++ b/openml/config.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 OPENML_CACHE_DIR_ENV_VAR = "OPENML_CACHE_DIR"
 OPENML_SKIP_PARQUET_ENV_VAR = "OPENML_SKIP_PARQUET"
+OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY_ENV_VAR = "OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY"
 _TEST_SERVER_NORMAL_USER_KEY = "normaluser"
 
 
diff --git a/openml/testing.py b/openml/testing.py
index d1da16876..ca6a1e478 100644
--- a/openml/testing.py
+++ b/openml/testing.py
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ class TestBase(unittest.TestCase):
     }
     flow_name_tracker: ClassVar[list[str]] = []
     test_server = "https://test.openml.org/api/v1/xml"
-    admin_key = "abc"
+    admin_key = os.environ.get(openml.config.OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY_ENV_VAR)
     user_key = openml.config._TEST_SERVER_NORMAL_USER_KEY
 
     # creating logger for tracking files uploaded to test server
diff --git a/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset_functions.py b/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset_functions.py
index c41664ba7..d80743a8c 100644
--- a/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset_functions.py
+++ b/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset_functions.py
@@ -599,6 +599,10 @@ def _assert_status_of_dataset(self, *, did: int, status: str):
         assert len(result) == 1
         assert result[did]["status"] == status
 
+    @pytest.mark.skipif(
+        not os.environ.get(openml.config.OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY_ENV_VAR),
+        reason="Test requires admin key. Set OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY environment variable.",
+    )
     @pytest.mark.flaky()
     @pytest.mark.uses_test_server()
     def test_data_status(self):
diff --git a/tests/test_openml/test_config.py b/tests/test_openml/test_config.py
index 7ef223504..cd3dd42dd 100644
--- a/tests/test_openml/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_openml/test_config.py
@@ -106,6 +106,10 @@ def test_setup_with_config(self):
 
 
 class TestConfigurationForExamples(openml.testing.TestBase):
+    @pytest.mark.skipif(
+        not os.environ.get(openml.config.OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY_ENV_VAR),
+        reason="Test requires admin key. Set OPENML_TEST_SERVER_ADMIN_KEY environment variable.",
+    )
     @pytest.mark.production()
     def test_switch_to_example_configuration(self):
         """Verifies the test configuration is loaded properly."""