diff --git a/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh b/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
index 90637cc01d0f402508cffd4098e10ae236a08756..ac9e7d70907981f0433897512371fcd63e5a239d 100755
--- a/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
+++ b/test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh
@@ -32,7 +32,12 @@ set -ex
 
 cd $(dirname $0)
 
-nvm install $1
+NODE_VERSION="$1"
+
+# make sure nvm is available
+source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh || true
+
+nvm install $NODE_VERSION
 
 npm install -g node-static
 
diff --git a/tools/dockerfile/distribtest/node_jessie_x86/Dockerfile b/tools/dockerfile/distribtest/node_jessie_x86/Dockerfile
index bd40ab2b4cb2557aa7fda2ce620bf1890bc48a30..8b97d8bb5a3be1aaec3ae73ac5a7c8c39f987a11 100644
--- a/tools/dockerfile/distribtest/node_jessie_x86/Dockerfile
+++ b/tools/dockerfile/distribtest/node_jessie_x86/Dockerfile
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
 
 FROM 32bit/debian:jessie
 
-RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y git
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y curl
 
 # Install nvm
 RUN touch .profile
-RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.30.2/install.sh | bash
\ No newline at end of file
+RUN curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.30.2/install.sh | bash
diff --git a/tools/run_tests/distribtest_targets.py b/tools/run_tests/distribtest_targets.py
index a1e45ece9dcd1425feeb77848a03fefa079e2a20..f3ebc00b4ef27aeaca340ea7a63cdbc38d9fe614 100644
--- a/tools/run_tests/distribtest_targets.py
+++ b/tools/run_tests/distribtest_targets.py
@@ -105,8 +105,7 @@ class NodeDistribTest(object):
                                  'tools/dockerfile/distribtest/node_%s_%s' % (
                                      self.docker_suffix,
                                      self.arch),
-                                 # bash -l needed to make nvm available
-                                 'bash -l test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh %s' % (
+                                 'test/distrib/node/run_distrib_test.sh %s' % (
                                      self.node_version))
     def __str__(self):
       return self.name