diff --git a/.ci/scripts/run_sklearn_tests.py b/.ci/scripts/run_sklearn_tests.py
index e8a0b07cfd..33373f6c66 100644
--- a/.ci/scripts/run_sklearn_tests.py
+++ b/.ci/scripts/run_sklearn_tests.py
@@ -14,12 +14,14 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 # ===============================================================================
 
+import os
+
+os.environ["SCIPY_ARRAY_API"] = "1"
 from sklearnex import patch_sklearn
 
 patch_sklearn()
 
 import argparse
-import os
 import sys
 
 import pytest
@@ -43,8 +45,6 @@
     if os.environ["SELECTED_TESTS"] == "all":
         os.environ["SELECTED_TESTS"] = ""
 
-    os.environ["SCIPY_ARRAY_API"] = "1"
-
     pytest_args = (
         f"--rootdir={sklearn_file_dir} "
         f'{os.environ["DESELECTED_TESTS"]} {os.environ["SELECTED_TESTS"]}'.split(" ")
diff --git a/conda-recipe/run_test.bat b/conda-recipe/run_test.bat
index a70f5f76cf..8e47b761d1 100644
--- a/conda-recipe/run_test.bat
+++ b/conda-recipe/run_test.bat
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ if "%PYTHON%"=="python" (
     set NO_DIST=1
 )
 
-
+set SCIPY_ARRAY_API=1
 
 %PYTHON% -c "from sklearnex import patch_sklearn; patch_sklearn()" || set exitcode=1
 
diff --git a/conda-recipe/run_test.sh b/conda-recipe/run_test.sh
index 61e96fb018..a292957b35 100755
--- a/conda-recipe/run_test.sh
+++ b/conda-recipe/run_test.sh
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ if [ -z "${PYTHON}" ]; then
     export PYTHON=python
 fi
 
+export SCIPY_ARRAY_API=1
+
 # Note: execute with argument --json-report in order to produce
 # a JSON report under folder '.pytest_reports'. Other arguments
 # will also be forwarded to pytest.
diff --git a/daal4py/sklearn/linear_model/tests/test_linear.py b/daal4py/sklearn/linear_model/tests/test_linear.py
index 29137b475a..8590a357bf 100644
--- a/daal4py/sklearn/linear_model/tests/test_linear.py
+++ b/daal4py/sklearn/linear_model/tests/test_linear.py
@@ -14,24 +14,14 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 # ==============================================================================
 
-
-from os import environ
-
-from daal4py.sklearn._utils import sklearn_check_version
-
-# sklearn requires manual enabling of Scipy array API support
-# if `array-api-compat` package is present in environment
-# TODO: create generic approach to handle this for all tests
-if sklearn_check_version("1.6"):
-    environ["SCIPY_ARRAY_API"] = "1"
-
-
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
 from sklearn.datasets import make_regression
 from sklearn.linear_model import LinearRegression
 from sklearn.utils._testing import assert_array_almost_equal
 
+from daal4py.sklearn._utils import sklearn_check_version
+
 
 def make_dataset(n_samples, n_features, kind=np.array, random_state=0, types=None):
     try:
diff --git a/onedal/svm/tests/test_svc.py b/onedal/svm/tests/test_svc.py
index f97d01c091..a4fda0875f 100644
--- a/onedal/svm/tests/test_svc.py
+++ b/onedal/svm/tests/test_svc.py
@@ -14,14 +14,6 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 # ==============================================================================
 
-from os import environ
-
-# sklearn requires manual enabling of Scipy array API support
-# if `array-api-compat` package is present in environment
-# TODO: create generic approach to handle this for all tests
-environ["SCIPY_ARRAY_API"] = "1"
-
-
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
 import sklearn.utils.estimator_checks
diff --git a/sklearnex/covariance/tests/test_incremental_covariance.py b/sklearnex/covariance/tests/test_incremental_covariance.py
index 554b1a1734..a89310856b 100644
--- a/sklearnex/covariance/tests/test_incremental_covariance.py
+++ b/sklearnex/covariance/tests/test_incremental_covariance.py
@@ -15,16 +15,6 @@
 # ===============================================================================
 
 from contextlib import nullcontext
-from os import environ
-
-from daal4py.sklearn._utils import sklearn_check_version
-
-# sklearn requires manual enabling of Scipy array API support
-# if `array-api-compat` package is present in environment
-# TODO: create generic approach to handle this for all tests
-if sklearn_check_version("1.6"):
-    environ["SCIPY_ARRAY_API"] = "1"
-
 
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
@@ -38,7 +28,7 @@
 from sklearn.datasets import load_diabetes
 from sklearn.decomposition import PCA
 
-from daal4py.sklearn._utils import daal_check_version
+from daal4py.sklearn._utils import daal_check_version, sklearn_check_version
 from onedal.tests.utils._dataframes_support import (
     _as_numpy,
     _convert_to_dataframe,