diff --git a/source/lmp/tests/run_mpi_pair_deepmd.py b/source/lmp/tests/run_mpi_pair_deepmd.py
index b27774ce11..0c4291ab3a 100644
--- a/source/lmp/tests/run_mpi_pair_deepmd.py
+++ b/source/lmp/tests/run_mpi_pair_deepmd.py
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@
 )
 lammps.pair_coeff("* *")
 lammps.run(0)
-pe = lammps.eval("pe")
 if rank == 0:
+    pe = lammps.eval("pe")
     arr = [pe]
     np.savetxt(output, np.array(arr))
 MPI.Finalize()