diff --git a/qutebrowser/utils/version.py b/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
index 7b44fed7e..4d0fd5146 100644
--- a/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
+++ b/qutebrowser/utils/version.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ Distribution = usertypes.enum(
                      'gentoo', 'fedora', 'opensuse', 'linuxmint', 'manjaro'])
 
 
-def distribution(filename='/etc/os-release'):
+def distribution():
     """Get some information about the running Linux distribution.
 
     Returns:
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ def distribution(filename='/etc/os-release'):
             version: A Version object, or None
             pretty: Always a string (might be "Unknown")
     """
+    filename = os.environ.get('QUTE_FAKE_OS_RELEASE', '/etc/os-release')
     info = {}
     try:
         with open(filename, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
diff --git a/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py b/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py
index 192ae92a7..b78f8798a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py
+++ b/tests/unit/utils/test_version.py
@@ -164,11 +164,13 @@ from qutebrowser.browser import pdfjs
          id='manjaro', parsed=version.Distribution.manjaro,
          version=None, pretty='Manjaro Linux')),
 ])
-def test_distribution(tmpdir, os_release, expected):
+def test_distribution(tmpdir, monkeypatch, os_release, expected):
     os_release_file = tmpdir / 'os-release'
     if os_release is not None:
         os_release_file.write(textwrap.dedent(os_release))
-    assert version.distribution(str(os_release_file)) == expected
+    monkeypatch.setenv('QUTE_FAKE_OS_RELEASE', str(os_release_file))
+
+    assert version.distribution() == expected
 
 
 class GitStrSubprocessFake: