diff --git a/hack/cri-test/test-utils.sh b/hack/cri-test/test-utils.sh
index 9e1d4abe8..8d89f0cac 100755
--- a/hack/cri-test/test-utils.sh
+++ b/hack/cri-test/test-utils.sh
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ test_setup() {
   pouch_pid_command=`pgrep pouchd`
   pouch_pid=${pouch_pid_command}
   if [ ! -n "${pouch_pid}" ]; then
-    keepalive "pouchd --enable-cri ${POUCH_FLAGS}" \
+    keepalive "pouchd --enable-cri --sandbox-image=gcr.io/google_containers/pause-amd64:3.0 ${POUCH_FLAGS}" \
 	  ${RESTART_WAIT_PERIOD} &> ${report_dir}/pouch.log &
     pouch_pid=$!
   fi