diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py b/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py
index 71a5f5c1750b3cc850c4e87632701812176b241f..f309a33256cd3225a37049f18ff7f0e11570d11e 100644
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/kunit_kernel.py
@@ -203,7 +203,9 @@ class LinuxSourceTree(object):
 			return False
 		return self.validate_config(build_dir)
 
-	def run_kernel(self, args=[], build_dir='', filter_glob='', timeout=None) -> Iterator[str]:
+	def run_kernel(self, args=None, build_dir='', filter_glob='', timeout=None) -> Iterator[str]:
+		if not args:
+			args = []
 		args.extend(['mem=1G', 'console=tty'])
 		if filter_glob:
 			args.append('kunit.filter_glob='+filter_glob)