diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/cat_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/cat_test.c
index 6aac03147d41..371a2f26dc47 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/cat_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/resctrl/cat_test.c
@@ -157,6 +157,10 @@ static int cat_test(const struct resctrl_test *test,
 	if (ret)
 		goto reset_affinity;
 
+	ret = minimize_l2_occupancy(test, uparams, param);
+	if (ret)
+		goto reset_affinity;
+
 	perf_event_attr_initialize(&pea, PERF_COUNT_HW_CACHE_MISSES);
 	pe_fd = perf_open(&pea, bm_pid, uparams->cpu);
 	if (pe_fd < 0) {