diff --git a/.ci/test.sh b/.ci/test.sh
index 4195f0f4..f4fb3d7d 100755
--- a/.ci/test.sh
+++ b/.ci/test.sh
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ elif [[ $TASK == "mpi" ]]; then
     if [[ $METHOD == "pip" ]]; then
         cd $BUILD_DIRECTORY/python-package && python setup.py sdist || exit -1
         pip install wheel setuptools || exit -1
-        pip install --user $BUILD_DIRECTORY/python-package/dist/fairgbm-$LGB_VER.tar.gz -v --config-settings="--build-option=--mpi" || exit -1
+        pip install --user $BUILD_DIRECTORY/python-package/dist/fairgbm-$LGB_VER.tar.gz -v --config-settings=cmake.define.USE_MPI=ON || exit -1
         pytest $BUILD_DIRECTORY/tests/python_package_test || exit -1
         exit 0
     elif [[ $METHOD == "wheel" ]]; then