diff --git a/test/rubygems/helper.rb b/test/rubygems/helper.rb
index d97d930476..0fff8cafe8 100644
--- a/test/rubygems/helper.rb
+++ b/test/rubygems/helper.rb
@@ -302,6 +302,7 @@ class Gem::TestCase < Test::Unit::TestCase
   # or <tt>i686-darwin8.10.1</tt> otherwise.
 
   def setup
+    @orig_hooks = {}
     @orig_env = ENV.to_hash
     @tmp = File.expand_path("tmp")
 
@@ -426,7 +427,6 @@ class Gem::TestCase < Test::Unit::TestCase
       util_set_arch 'i686-darwin8.10.1'
     end
 
-    @orig_hooks = {}
     %w[post_install_hooks done_installing_hooks post_uninstall_hooks pre_uninstall_hooks pre_install_hooks pre_reset_hooks post_reset_hooks post_build_hooks].each do |name|
       @orig_hooks[name] = Gem.send(name).dup
     end