diff --git a/ui/src/index.tsx b/ui/src/index.tsx
index 992ef767e..c9bd4514d 100644
--- a/ui/src/index.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/index.tsx
@@ -1,32 +1,3 @@
-import { createRoot } from "react-dom/client";
-import { BrowserRouter as Router } from "react-router-dom";
-import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from "@tanstack/react-query";
-import App from "./App";
-import "./sass/styles.scss";
-import { NotificationProvider } from "@canonical/react-components";
-import { basePath } from "util/basePaths";
-import { removeTrailingSlash } from "util/removeTrailingSlash";
+import { init } from "root";
 
-const queryClient = new QueryClient({
-  defaultOptions: {
-    queries: {
-      refetchOnWindowFocus: false,
-      retry: false,
-      // Cache queries for 30 seconds by default.
-      staleTime: 30000,
-    },
-  },
-});
-
-const rootElement = document.getElementById("app");
-if (!rootElement) throw new Error("Failed to find the root element");
-const root = createRoot(rootElement);
-root.render(
-  <Router basename={removeTrailingSlash(basePath)}>
-    <QueryClientProvider client={queryClient}>
-      <NotificationProvider>
-        <App />
-      </NotificationProvider>
-    </QueryClientProvider>
-  </Router>,
-);
+init();
diff --git a/ui/src/root.test.tsx b/ui/src/root.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5fbd16fa5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/root.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+import { waitFor } from "@testing-library/dom";
+import MockAdapter from "axios-mock-adapter";
+
+import { authURLs } from "api/auth";
+import { changeURL } from "test/utils";
+
+import { init, Label } from "./root";
+import { axiosInstance } from "./api/axios";
+import { act } from "@testing-library/react";
+
+const mock = new MockAdapter(axiosInstance);
+
+const cleanRootNode = () =>
+  document.querySelectorAll("#app").forEach((root) => {
+    document.body.removeChild(root);
+  });
+
+const createRootNode = () => {
+  const root = document.createElement("div");
+  root.setAttribute("id", "app");
+  document.body.appendChild(root);
+};
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  mock.reset();
+  mock.onGet(authURLs.me).reply(200, {
+    data: {
+      email: "email",
+      name: "name",
+      nonce: "nonce",
+      sid: "sid",
+      sub: "sub",
+    },
+  });
+  createRootNode();
+  changeURL("/ui");
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  cleanRootNode();
+});
+
+test("handles no root node", () => {
+  cleanRootNode();
+  expect(init).toThrowError(Label.ERROR);
+});
+
+test("initialises the index", async () => {
+  act(() => init());
+  await waitFor(() =>
+    expect(document.querySelector("#app-layout")).toBeInTheDocument(),
+  );
+});
diff --git a/ui/src/root.tsx b/ui/src/root.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c02819b5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/root.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { createRoot } from "react-dom/client";
+import { BrowserRouter as Router } from "react-router-dom";
+import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from "@tanstack/react-query";
+import App from "./App";
+import "./sass/styles.scss";
+import { NotificationProvider } from "@canonical/react-components";
+import { basePath } from "util/basePaths";
+import { removeTrailingSlash } from "util/removeTrailingSlash";
+
+export enum Label {
+  ERROR = "Failed to find the root element",
+}
+
+export const init = () => {
+  const queryClient = new QueryClient({
+    defaultOptions: {
+      queries: {
+        refetchOnWindowFocus: false,
+        retry: false,
+        // Cache queries for 30 seconds by default.
+        staleTime: 30000,
+      },
+    },
+  });
+
+  const rootElement = document.getElementById("app");
+  if (!rootElement) throw new Error(Label.ERROR);
+  const root = createRoot(rootElement);
+  root.render(
+    <Router basename={removeTrailingSlash(basePath)}>
+      <QueryClientProvider client={queryClient}>
+        <NotificationProvider>
+          <App />
+        </NotificationProvider>
+      </QueryClientProvider>
+    </Router>,
+  );
+};