diff --git a/build_tools/check.sh b/build_tools/check.sh
index a25854230..ec8bf1226 100755
--- a/build_tools/check.sh
+++ b/build_tools/check.sh
@@ -49,7 +49,10 @@ if [ -n "$FISH_TEST_MAX_CONCURRENCY" ]; then
 fi
 
 template_file=$(mktemp)
-FISH_GETTEXT_EXTRACTION_FILE=$template_file cargo build --workspace --all-targets --features=gettext-extract
+(
+    export FISH_GETTEXT_EXTRACTION_FILE="$template_file"
+    cargo build --workspace --all-targets --features=gettext-extract
+)
 if $lint; then
     PATH="$build_dir:$PATH" "$workspace_root/build_tools/style.fish" --all --check
     for features in "" --no-default-features; do