diff --git a/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarViewController.java b/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarViewController.java
index 527e3a3cc1..b21c4145b1 100644
--- a/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarViewController.java
+++ b/quickstep/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/TaskbarViewController.java
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import android.view.View;
 import android.view.animation.Interpolator;
 
 import androidx.annotation.Nullable;
+import androidx.annotation.VisibleForTesting;
 import androidx.core.view.OneShotPreDrawListener;
 
 import com.android.app.animation.Interpolators;
@@ -96,6 +97,8 @@ public class TaskbarViewController implements TaskbarControllers.LoggableTaskbar
     public static final int ALPHA_INDEX_SMALL_SCREEN = 6;
     private static final int NUM_ALPHA_CHANNELS = 7;
 
+    private static boolean sEnableModelLoadingForTests = true;
+
     private final TaskbarActivityContext mActivity;
     private final TaskbarView mTaskbarView;
     private final MultiValueAlpha mTaskbarIconAlpha;
@@ -192,7 +195,7 @@ public class TaskbarViewController implements TaskbarControllers.LoggableTaskbar
         mTaskbarIconTranslationXForPinning.updateValue(pinningValue);
 
         mModelCallbacks.init(controllers);
-        if (mActivity.isUserSetupComplete()) {
+        if (mActivity.isUserSetupComplete() && sEnableModelLoadingForTests) {
             // Only load the callbacks if user setup is completed
             LauncherAppState.getInstance(mActivity).getModel().addCallbacksAndLoad(mModelCallbacks);
         }
@@ -924,4 +927,10 @@ public class TaskbarViewController implements TaskbarControllers.LoggableTaskbar
 
         mModelCallbacks.dumpLogs(prefix + "\t", pw);
     }
+
+    /** Enables model loading for tests. */
+    @VisibleForTesting
+    public static void enableModelLoadingForTests(boolean enable) {
+        sEnableModelLoadingForTests = enable;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/quickstep/tests/multivalentTests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/rules/TaskbarUnitTestRule.kt b/quickstep/tests/multivalentTests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/rules/TaskbarUnitTestRule.kt
index a966d2aedb..bbcf566e06 100644
--- a/quickstep/tests/multivalentTests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/rules/TaskbarUnitTestRule.kt
+++ b/quickstep/tests/multivalentTests/src/com/android/launcher3/taskbar/rules/TaskbarUnitTestRule.kt
@@ -29,10 +29,10 @@ import com.android.launcher3.LauncherAppState
 import com.android.launcher3.taskbar.TaskbarActivityContext
 import com.android.launcher3.taskbar.TaskbarManager
 import com.android.launcher3.taskbar.TaskbarNavButtonController.TaskbarNavButtonCallbacks
+import com.android.launcher3.taskbar.TaskbarViewController
 import com.android.launcher3.taskbar.rules.TaskbarUnitTestRule.InjectController
 import com.android.launcher3.util.Executors.UI_HELPER_EXECUTOR
 import com.android.launcher3.util.LauncherMultivalentJUnit.Companion.isRunningInRobolectric
-import com.android.launcher3.util.ModelTestExtensions.loadModelSync
 import com.android.launcher3.util.TestUtil
 import com.android.quickstep.AllAppsActionManager
 import com.android.quickstep.TouchInteractionService
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ class TaskbarUnitTestRule(
                     }
 
                 try {
-                    LauncherAppState.getInstance(context).model.loadModelSync()
+                    TaskbarViewController.enableModelLoadingForTests(false)
 
                     // Replace Launcher Taskbar window with test instance.
                     instrumentation.runOnMainSync {
@@ -167,6 +167,8 @@ class TaskbarUnitTestRule(
                         taskbarManager.destroy()
                         launcherTaskbarManager?.setSuspended(false)
                     }
+
+                    TaskbarViewController.enableModelLoadingForTests(true)
                 }
             }
         }