diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 8a5a523..cf7c4c0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,5 +18,6 @@ coverage
 rdoc
 pkg
 tags
+.rvmrc
 
 ## PROJECT::SPECIFIC
diff --git a/test/master_test.rb b/test/master_test.rb
index ca6091a..e32a183 100644
--- a/test/master_test.rb
+++ b/test/master_test.rb
@@ -115,8 +115,8 @@ class MasterTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
         :workers => [{
           :type => :ssh,
           :connect => 'localhost',
-          :directory => File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib')),
-          :runners => 1 
+          :directory => remote_dir_path,
+          :runners => 1
         }]
       )
       assert File.exists?(target_file)
diff --git a/test/runner_test.rb b/test/runner_test.rb
index 7f25acb..96f88ee 100644
--- a/test/runner_test.rb
+++ b/test/runner_test.rb
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ class RunnerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     should "be able to run a runner over ssh" do
       ssh = Hydra::SSH.new(
         'localhost', 
-        File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib')),
+         remote_dir_path,
         "ruby -e \"require 'rubygems'; require 'hydra'; Hydra::Runner.new(:io => Hydra::Stdio.new, :verbose => true);\""
       )
       assert ssh.gets.is_a?(Hydra::Messages::Runner::RequestFile)
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index a482fc0..4d7c6d2 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -56,6 +56,10 @@ class Test::Unit::TestCase
   def conflicting_test_file
     File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'conflicting.rb'))
   end
+
+  def remote_dir_path
+    File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib'))
+  end
 end
 
 module Hydra #:nodoc: