diff --git a/meta/classes/testimage.bbclass b/meta/classes/testimage.bbclass
index befda6b72c..844ed87944 100644
--- a/meta/classes/testimage.bbclass
+++ b/meta/classes/testimage.bbclass
@@ -268,6 +268,18 @@ def testimage_main(d):
     target_kwargs['serialcontrol_cmd'] = d.getVar("TEST_SERIALCONTROL_CMD") or None
     target_kwargs['serialcontrol_extra_args'] = d.getVar("TEST_SERIALCONTROL_EXTRA_ARGS") or ""
 
+    def export_ssh_agent(d):
+        import os
+
+        variables = ['SSH_AGENT_PID', 'SSH_AUTH_SOCK']
+        for v in variables:
+            if v not in os.environ.keys():
+                val = d.getVar(v)
+                if val is not None:
+                    os.environ[v] = val
+
+    export_ssh_agent(d)
+
     # runtime use network for download projects for build
     export_proxies(d)