diff --git a/tests/unit/utils.py b/tests/unit/utils.py
index 1fb3d5be..9529fcea 100644
--- a/tests/unit/utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/utils.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from hdmf.utils import (docval, getargs, get_docval)
 
 CORE_NAMESPACE = 'test_core'
-ROOT_NAME = 'root'
+from hdmf_zarr.backend import ROOT_NAME
 
 
 class CacheSpecTestHelper(object):