diff --git a/spec/integration/provider/package_spec.rb b/spec/integration/provider/package_spec.rb
index 9f4ea1eee..e0d628f4b 100755
--- a/spec/integration/provider/package_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration/provider/package_spec.rb
@@ -1,37 +1,44 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env rspec
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe "Package provider", :'fails_on_ruby_1.9.2' => true do
   include PuppetSpec::Files
 
   Puppet::Type.type(:package).providers.each do |name|
     provider = Puppet::Type.type(:package).provider(name)
 
     describe name, :if => provider.suitable? do
       it "should fail when asked to install an invalid package" do
         pending("This test hangs forever with recent versions of RubyGems") if provider.name == :gem
 
         options = {:name => "nosuch#{provider.name}", :provider => provider.name}
         # The MSI provider requires that source be specified as it is
         # what actually determines if the package exists.
         if provider.name == :msi
           options[:source] = tmpfile("msi_package")
         end
 
         pkg = Puppet::Type.newpackage(options)
         lambda { pkg.provider.install }.should raise_error
       end
 
       it "should be able to get a list of existing packages", :fails_on_windows => true do
         if provider.name == :msi
           Puppet[:vardir] = tmpdir('msi_package_var_dir')
         end
 
+        # the instances method requires root priviledges on gentoo
+        # if the eix cache is outdated (to run eix-update) so make
+        # sure we dont actually run eix-update
+        if provider.name == :portage
+          provider.stubs(:update_eix).returns('Database contains 15240 packages in 155 categories')
+        end
+
         provider.instances.each do |package|
           package.should be_instance_of(provider)
           package.properties[:provider].should == provider.name
         end
       end
     end
   end
 end