diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index 24e461768..722d6117a 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -315,20 +315,14 @@ test_low_level: fish_tests $(call filter_up_to,test_low_level,$(active_test_goal
 test_high_level: test_fishscript test_interactive
 .PHONY: test_high_level
 
-test_fishscript: $(PROGRAMS) test_fishscript_config $(call filter_up_to,test_fishscript,$(active_test_goals))
-	cd tests; XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$$PWD"/tmp.config ../fish test.fish
+test_fishscript: $(PROGRAMS) $(call filter_up_to,test_fishscript,$(active_test_goals))
+	cd tests && ../fish test.fish
 .PHONY: test_fishscript
 
-test_interactive: $(PROGRAMS) test_fishscript_config $(call filter_up_to,test_interactive,$(active_test_goals))
-	cd tests; XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$$PWD"/tmp.config ../fish interactive.fish
+test_interactive: $(PROGRAMS) $(call filter_up_to,test_interactive,$(active_test_goals))
+	cd tests && ../fish interactive.fish
 .PHONY: test_interactive
 
-test_fishscript_config:
-	@rm -rf tests/tmp.config
-	@mkdir -p tests/tmp.config/fish
-	@echo 'set fish_function_path "$$PWD/../share/functions"' > tests/tmp.config/fish/config.fish
-.PHONY: test_fishscript_config
-
 #
 # commands.hdr collects documentation on all commands, functions and
 # builtins
diff --git a/tests/interactive.config b/tests/interactive.config
index 835bdfd36..ee6fee949 100644
--- a/tests/interactive.config
+++ b/tests/interactive.config
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 # vim: set filetype=fish sw=4 ts=4 et:
 
-# source the non-interactive config
-source $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/../tmp.config/fish/config.fish
-
 set -g prompt_counter 0
 set -g prompt_counter_incr 0
 function fish_prompt
diff --git a/tests/interactive.fish b/tests/interactive.fish
index dbc9bf889..ad53e2624 100644
--- a/tests/interactive.fish
+++ b/tests/interactive.fish
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # Interactive tests using `expect`
 
-source test_util.fish
+source test_util.fish (status -f); or exit
 
 say -o cyan "Testing interactive functionality"
 if not type -q expect
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ end
 function test_file
     rm -Rf tmp.interactive.config; or die "Couldn't remove tmp.interactive.config"
     mkdir -p tmp.interactive.config/fish; or die "Couldn't create tmp.interactive.config/fish"
-    cp interactive.config tmp.interactive.config/fish/config.fish; or die "Couldn't create tmp.interactive.config/fish/config.fish"
+    cat $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/fish/config.fish interactive.config > tmp.interactive.config/fish/config.fish
+    or die "Couldn't create tmp.interactive.config/fish/config.fish"
 
     set -l file $argv[1]
 
diff --git a/tests/test.fish b/tests/test.fish
index 35850197d..7a48ddbf8 100644
--- a/tests/test.fish
+++ b/tests/test.fish
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 #
 # Fishscript tests
 
-source test_util.fish
+source test_util.fish (status -f); or exit
 
 say -o cyan "Testing high level script functionality"
 
diff --git a/tests/test_util.fish b/tests/test_util.fish
index 659cbda47..2aef2b980 100644
--- a/tests/test_util.fish
+++ b/tests/test_util.fish
@@ -1,18 +1,73 @@
 # Utilities for the test runners
 
-function die
-    echo $argv[1] >&2
+if test "$argv[1]" = (status -f)
+    echo 'test_util.fish requires sourcing script as argument to `source`' >&2
+    echo 'use `source test_util.fish (status -f); or exit`' >&2
+    status --print-stack-trace >&2
     exit 1
 end
 
-if not tty 0>&1 >/dev/null
-    function set_color
-        # do nothing
-        return 0
-    end
+function die
+    set -q argv[1]; and echo $argv[1] >&2
+    exit 1
 end
 
-function say
+# check if we're running in the test environment
+# if not, set it up and rerun fish with exec.
+# The test is whether the special var __fish_is_running_tests
+# exists and contains the same value as XDG_CONFIG_HOME. It checks
+# the value and not just the presence because we're going to delete
+# the config directory later if we're exiting successfully.
+if not set -q __fish_is_running_tests
+    # set up our test environment and re-run the original script
+    set -l script $argv[1]
+    switch $script
+    case '/*'
+        # path is absolute
+    case '*'
+        # path is relative, make it absolute
+        set script $PWD/$script
+    end
+    set -l IFS # clear IFS so cmd substitution doesn't split
+    cd (dirname $script); or die
+    set -xl XDG_CONFIG_HOME (printf '%s/tmp.config/%s' $PWD %self); or die
+    if test -d $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
+        # if the dir already exists, we've reused a pid
+        # this would be surprising to reuse a fish pid that failed in the past,
+        # but clear it anyway
+        rm -r $XDG_CONFIG_HOME; or die
+    end
+    mkdir -p $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/fish; or die
+    set -l escaped_parent (dirname $PWD | sed -e 's/[\'\\\\]/\\\\&/g'); or die
+    printf 'set fish_function_path \'%s/share/functions\'\n' $escaped_parent > $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/fish/config.fish; or die
+    set -xl __fish_is_running_tests $XDG_CONFIG_HOME
+    exec ../fish $script
+    die 'exec failed'
+else if test "$__fish_is_running_tests" != "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME"
+    echo 'Something went wrong with the test runner.' >&2
+    echo "__fish_is_running_tests: $__fish_is_running_tests" >&2
+    echo "XDG_CONFIG_HOME: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME" >&2
+    exit 10
+else
+    # we're running tests with a temporary config directory
+    function test_util_on_exit --on-process-exit %self -V __fish_is_running_tests
+        # remove the temporary config directory
+        # unfortunately if this fails we can't alter the exit status of fish
+        if not rm -r "$__fish_is_running_tests"
+            echo "error: Couldn't remove temporary config directory '$__fish_is_running_tests'" >&2
+        end
+    end
+    # unset __fish_is_running_tests so any children that source
+    # test_util.fish will set up a new test environment.
+    set -e __fish_is_running_tests
+end
+
+set -l suppress_color
+if not tty 0>&1 >/dev/null
+    set suppress_color yes
+end
+
+function say -V suppress_color
     set -l color_flags
     set -l suppress_newline
     while set -q argv[1]
@@ -32,15 +87,14 @@ function say
         set -e argv[1]
     end
 
-    if not set -q argv[1]
-        echo 'usage: say [flags] color [string...]' >&2
+    if not set -q argv[2]
+        echo 'usage: say [flags] color string [string...]' >&2
         return 1
     end
 
-    if set_color $color_flags $argv[1]
-        set -e argv[1]
-        echo -n $argv
-        set_color reset
+    if begin; test -n "$suppress_color"; or set_color $color_flags $argv[1]; end
+        printf '%s' $argv[2..-1]
+        test -z "$suppress_color"; and set_color reset
         if test -z "$suppress_newline"
             echo
         end