diff --git a/tests/t12-repo.c b/tests/t12-repo.c
index e8a7784c2..5d6ad48bf 100644
--- a/tests/t12-repo.c
+++ b/tests/t12-repo.c
@@ -196,8 +196,7 @@ BEGIN_TEST(init2, "Initialize and open a bare repo with a relative path escaping
 	must_pass(git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_REPO_FOLDER, 1));
 END_TEST
 
-#define EMPTY_BARE_REPOSITORY_NAME		"empty_bare.git"
-#define EMPTY_BARE_REPOSITORY_FOLDER	TEST_RESOURCES "/" EMPTY_BARE_REPOSITORY_NAME "/"
+#define EMPTY_BARE_REPOSITORY_FOLDER TEST_RESOURCES "/empty_bare.git/"
 
 BEGIN_TEST(open0, "Open a bare repository that has just been initialized by git")
 	git_repository *repo;
@@ -213,18 +212,15 @@ BEGIN_TEST(open0, "Open a bare repository that has just been initialized by git"
 	must_pass(git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_REPO_FOLDER, 1));
 END_TEST
 
-#define SOURCE_EMPTY_REPOSITORY_NAME	"empty_standard_repo/.gitted"
-#define EMPTY_REPOSITORY_NAME			"empty_standard_repo/.git"
-#define EMPTY_REPOSITORY_FOLDER			TEST_RESOURCES "/" SOURCE_EMPTY_REPOSITORY_NAME "/"
-#define DEST_REPOSITORY_FOLDER			TEMP_REPO_FOLDER DOT_GIT "/"
+#define EMPTY_REPOSITORY_FOLDER TEST_RESOURCES "/empty_standard_repo/.gitted/"
 
 BEGIN_TEST(open1, "Open a standard repository that has just been initialized by git")
 	git_repository *repo;
 
-	must_pass(copydir_recurs(EMPTY_REPOSITORY_FOLDER, DEST_REPOSITORY_FOLDER));
-	must_pass(remove_placeholders(DEST_REPOSITORY_FOLDER, "dummy-marker.txt"));
+	must_pass(copydir_recurs(EMPTY_REPOSITORY_FOLDER, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(remove_placeholders(TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER, "dummy-marker.txt"));
 
-	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, DEST_REPOSITORY_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
 	must_be_true(git_repository_path(repo, GIT_REPO_PATH) != NULL);
 	must_be_true(git_repository_path(repo, GIT_REPO_PATH_WORKDIR) != NULL);
 
diff --git a/tests/t18-status.c b/tests/t18-status.c
index 385de7b6c..c30c541df 100644
--- a/tests/t18-status.c
+++ b/tests/t18-status.c
@@ -22,57 +22,33 @@
  * the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
  * Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
  */
+
 #include "test_lib.h"
 #include "test_helpers.h"
 #include "fileops.h"
 #include "git2/status.h"
 
-#define STATUS_FOLDER TEST_RESOURCES "/status"
-#define TEMP_STATUS_FOLDER TEMP_FOLDER "status"
-
 static const char *test_blob_oid = "d4fa8600b4f37d7516bef4816ae2c64dbf029e3a";
 
-static int copy_status_repo(char *path_statusfiles, char *temp_path)
-{
-	char current_workdir[GIT_PATH_MAX];
-	char gitted[GIT_PATH_MAX];
-	int error;
-
-	error = p_getcwd(current_workdir, sizeof(current_workdir));
-	if (error < 0)
-		return error;
-	strcpy(path_statusfiles, current_workdir);
-	git_path_join(path_statusfiles, path_statusfiles, TEMP_STATUS_FOLDER);
-
-	error = copydir_recurs(STATUS_FOLDER, path_statusfiles);
-	if (error < 0)
-		return error;
-
-	git_path_join(gitted, path_statusfiles, ".gitted");
-	git_path_join(temp_path, path_statusfiles, ".git");
-	copydir_recurs(gitted, temp_path);
-	git_futils_rmdir_r(gitted, 1);
-
-	return GIT_SUCCESS;
-}
+#define STATUS_WORKDIR_FOLDER TEST_RESOURCES "/status/"
+#define STATUS_REPOSITORY_TEMP_FOLDER TEMP_REPO_FOLDER ".gitted/"
 
 BEGIN_TEST(file0, "test retrieving OID from a file apart from the ODB")
-	char path_statusfiles[GIT_PATH_MAX];
-	char temp_path[GIT_PATH_MAX];
 	git_oid expected_id, actual_id;
+	char filename[] = "new_file";
+	int fd;
 
-	must_pass(copy_status_repo(path_statusfiles, temp_path));
+	fd = p_creat(filename, 0644);
+	must_pass(fd);
+	must_pass(p_write(fd, "new_file\n", 9));
+	must_pass(p_close(fd));
 
-	git_path_join(temp_path, path_statusfiles, "new_file");
-
-	must_pass(git_futils_exists(temp_path));
-
-	git_oid_fromstr(&expected_id, test_blob_oid);
-	must_pass(git_odb_hashfile(&actual_id, temp_path, GIT_OBJ_BLOB));
+	must_pass(git_odb_hashfile(&actual_id, filename, GIT_OBJ_BLOB));
 
+	must_pass(git_oid_fromstr(&expected_id, test_blob_oid));
 	must_be_true(git_oid_cmp(&expected_id, &actual_id) == 0);
 
-	git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_STATUS_FOLDER, 1);
+	must_pass(p_unlink(filename));
 END_TEST
 
 static const char *entry_paths[] = {
@@ -144,14 +120,12 @@ static int status_cb(const char *path, unsigned int status_flags, void *payload)
 }
 
 BEGIN_TEST(statuscb0, "test retrieving status for worktree of repository")
-	char path_statusfiles[GIT_PATH_MAX];
-	char temp_path[GIT_PATH_MAX];
 	git_repository *repo;
 	struct status_entry_counts counts;
 
-	must_pass(copy_status_repo(path_statusfiles, temp_path));
-
-	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, temp_path));
+	must_pass(copydir_recurs(STATUS_WORKDIR_FOLDER, TEMP_REPO_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(git_futils_mv_atomic(STATUS_REPOSITORY_TEMP_FOLDER, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
 
 	memset(&counts, 0x0, sizeof(struct status_entry_counts));
 	git_status_foreach(repo, status_cb, &counts);
@@ -160,19 +134,17 @@ BEGIN_TEST(statuscb0, "test retrieving status for worktree of repository")
 
 	git_repository_free(repo);
 
-	git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_STATUS_FOLDER, 1);
+	git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_REPO_FOLDER, 1);
 END_TEST
 
 BEGIN_TEST(singlestatus0, "test retrieving status for single file")
-	char path_statusfiles[GIT_PATH_MAX];
-	char temp_path[GIT_PATH_MAX];
 	git_repository *repo;
 	unsigned int status_flags;
 	int i;
 
-	must_pass(copy_status_repo(path_statusfiles, temp_path));
-
-	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, temp_path));
+	must_pass(copydir_recurs(STATUS_WORKDIR_FOLDER, TEMP_REPO_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(git_futils_mv_atomic(STATUS_REPOSITORY_TEMP_FOLDER, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
 
 	for (i = 0; i < ENTRY_COUNT; ++i) {
 		must_pass(git_status_file(&status_flags, repo, entry_paths[i]));
@@ -181,19 +153,17 @@ BEGIN_TEST(singlestatus0, "test retrieving status for single file")
 
 	git_repository_free(repo);
 
-	git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_STATUS_FOLDER, 1);
+	git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_REPO_FOLDER, 1);
 END_TEST
 
 BEGIN_TEST(singlestatus1, "test retrieving status for nonexistent file")
-	char path_statusfiles[GIT_PATH_MAX];
-	char temp_path[GIT_PATH_MAX];
 	git_repository *repo;
 	unsigned int status_flags;
 	int error;
 
-	must_pass(copy_status_repo(path_statusfiles, temp_path));
-
-	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, temp_path));
+	must_pass(copydir_recurs(STATUS_WORKDIR_FOLDER, TEMP_REPO_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(git_futils_mv_atomic(STATUS_REPOSITORY_TEMP_FOLDER, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
+	must_pass(git_repository_open(&repo, TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER));
 
 	// "nonexistent" does not exist in HEAD, Index or the worktree
 	error = git_status_file(&status_flags, repo, "nonexistent");
@@ -201,12 +171,14 @@ BEGIN_TEST(singlestatus1, "test retrieving status for nonexistent file")
 
 	git_repository_free(repo);
 
-	git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_STATUS_FOLDER, 1);
+	git_futils_rmdir_r(TEMP_REPO_FOLDER, 1);
 END_TEST
 
 BEGIN_SUITE(status)
 	ADD_TEST(file0);
+
 	ADD_TEST(statuscb0);
+
 	ADD_TEST(singlestatus0);
 	ADD_TEST(singlestatus1);
 END_SUITE
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/test_helpers.h b/tests/test_helpers.h
index 19c8ae55c..75027dd6f 100644
--- a/tests/test_helpers.h
+++ b/tests/test_helpers.h
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #define TEMP_FOLDER				""
 #define TEMP_REPO_FOLDER		TEMP_FOLDER TEST_REPOSITORY_NAME "/"
 #define TEMP_REPO_FOLDER_NS		TEMP_FOLDER TEST_REPOSITORY_NAME
+#define TEST_STD_REPO_FOLDER	TEMP_REPO_FOLDER ".git/"
 
 typedef struct object_data {
     unsigned char *bytes;  /* (compressed) bytes stored in object store */