diff --git a/tractor/_testing/pytest.py b/tractor/_testing/pytest.py
index c80569a8..ce18d893 100644
--- a/tractor/_testing/pytest.py
+++ b/tractor/_testing/pytest.py
@@ -668,6 +668,7 @@ def pytest_generate_tests(
     #         scope='module',
     #     )
 
+
 def _is_forking_spawner(
     start_method: str,
 ) -> bool:
@@ -685,7 +686,7 @@ def is_forking_spawner(
     Is the `pytest` run using a `fork()`ing process spawning-backend?
 
     '''
-    return _is_forking_spawner
+    return _is_forking_spawner(start_method)
 
 
 def maybe_xfail_for_spawner(