diff --git a/src/pkg/os/os_test.go b/src/pkg/os/os_test.go
index a5ffcc0594..9a95407ad5 100644
--- a/src/pkg/os/os_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/os/os_test.go
@@ -985,25 +985,24 @@ func TestAppend(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestStatDirWithTrailingSlash(t *testing.T) {
-	// Create new dir, in _test so it will get
-	// cleaned up by make if not by us.
-	path := "_test/_TestStatDirWithSlash_"
-	err := MkdirAll(path, 0777)
+	// Create new temporary directory and arrange to clean it up.
+	path, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "/_TestStatDirWithSlash_")
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("MkdirAll %q: %s", path, err)
+		t.Fatalf("TempDir: %s", err)
 	}
 	defer RemoveAll(path)
 
 	// Stat of path should succeed.
 	_, err = Stat(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal("stat failed:", err)
+		t.Fatalf("stat %s failed: %s", path, err)
 	}
 
 	// Stat of path+"/" should succeed too.
-	_, err = Stat(path + "/")
+	path += "/"
+	_, err = Stat(path)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal("stat failed:", err)
+		t.Fatalf("stat %s failed: %s", path, err)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pkg/os/path_test.go b/src/pkg/os/path_test.go
index 18634ba410..7744380678 100644
--- a/src/pkg/os/path_test.go
+++ b/src/pkg/os/path_test.go
@@ -12,14 +12,13 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestMkdirAll(t *testing.T) {
-	// Create new dir, in _test so it will get
-	// cleaned up by make if not by us.
-	path := "_test/_TestMkdirAll_/dir/./dir2"
+	tmpDir := TempDir()
+	path := tmpDir + "_/_TestMkdirAll_/dir/./dir2"
 	err := MkdirAll(path, 0777)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("MkdirAll %q: %s", path, err)
 	}
-	defer RemoveAll("_test/_TestMkdirAll_")
+	defer RemoveAll(tmpDir + "/_TestMkdirAll_")
 
 	// Already exists, should succeed.
 	err = MkdirAll(path, 0777)
@@ -63,7 +62,7 @@ func TestMkdirAll(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-		path := `_test\_TestMkdirAll_\dir\.\dir2\`
+		path := tmpDir + `\_TestMkdirAll_\dir\.\dir2\`
 		err := MkdirAll(path, 0777)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatalf("MkdirAll %q: %s", path, err)
@@ -72,8 +71,9 @@ func TestMkdirAll(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRemoveAll(t *testing.T) {
+	tmpDir := TempDir()
 	// Work directory.
-	path := "_test/_TestRemoveAll_"
+	path := tmpDir + "/_TestRemoveAll_"
 	fpath := path + "/file"
 	dpath := path + "/dir"
 
@@ -170,19 +170,22 @@ func TestMkdirAllWithSymlink(t *testing.T) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	err := Mkdir("_test/dir", 0755)
+	tmpDir := TempDir()
+	dir := tmpDir + "/dir"
+	err := Mkdir(dir, 0755)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(`Mkdir "_test/dir":`, err)
+		t.Fatalf("Mkdir %s: %s", dir, err)
 	}
-	defer RemoveAll("_test/dir")
+	defer RemoveAll(dir)
 
-	err = Symlink("dir", "_test/link")
+	link := tmpDir + "/link"
+	err = Symlink("dir", link)
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(`Symlink "dir", "_test/link":`, err)
+		t.Fatalf("Symlink %s: %s", link, err)
 	}
-	defer RemoveAll("_test/link")
+	defer RemoveAll(link)
 
-	path := "_test/link/foo"
+	path := link + "/foo"
 	err = MkdirAll(path, 0755)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("MkdirAll %q: %s", path, err)