diff --git a/tests/libtest/lib758.c b/tests/libtest/lib758.c
index 14db443e6e..eb5be6a4f0 100644
--- a/tests/libtest/lib758.c
+++ b/tests/libtest/lib758.c
@@ -354,6 +354,12 @@ static CURLcode t758_one(const char *URL, int timer_fail_at,
   if(res != CURLE_OK)
     return res;
 
+  if(curl_global_sslset(CURLSSLBACKEND_OPENSSL, NULL, NULL) != CURLSSLSET_OK) {
+    t758_msg("could not set OpenSSL as backend");
+    res = CURLE_FAILED_INIT;
+    return res;
+  }
+
   easy_init(curl);
   debug_config.nohex = TRUE;
   debug_config.tracetime = TRUE;