diff --git a/r/tests/testthat/test-gcs.R b/r/tests/testthat/test-gcs.R
index 9b05b4cc9b833..563ed8a94559f 100644
--- a/r/tests/testthat/test-gcs.R
+++ b/r/tests/testthat/test-gcs.R
@@ -155,7 +155,12 @@ gcs_path <- function(...) {
   paste(now, ..., sep = "/")
 }
 gcs_uri <- function(...) {
-  template <- "gs://anonymous@%s?scheme=http&endpoint_override=localhost%s%s&retry_limit_seconds=1&project_id=test-project-id"
+  template <- paste0("gs://anonymous@%s?",
+                     paste("scheme=http",
+                           "endpoint_override=localhost%s%s",
+                           "retry_limit_seconds=1",
+                           "project_id=test-project-id",
+                           sep = "&"))
   sprintf(template, gcs_path(...), "%3A", testbench_port)
 }