diff --git a/libs/pbd/test/test_common.cc b/libs/pbd/test/test_common.cc
index d7d961ca97..f9bc42c027 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/test/test_common.cc
+++ b/libs/pbd/test/test_common.cc
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 #include <glibmm/fileutils.h>
 #include <glibmm/miscutils.h>
 
+#include "pbd/file_utils.h"
+
 #include <sstream>
 
 using namespace std;
@@ -44,18 +46,7 @@ test_search_path ()
 std::string
 test_output_directory (std::string prefix)
 {
-	std::string tmp_dir = Glib::build_filename (g_get_tmp_dir(), "pbd_test");
-	std::string dir_name;
-	std::string new_test_dir;
-	do {
-		ostringstream oss;
-		oss << prefix;
-		oss << g_random_int ();
-		dir_name = oss.str();
-		new_test_dir = Glib::build_filename (tmp_dir, dir_name);
-		if (Glib::file_test (new_test_dir, Glib::FILE_TEST_EXISTS)) continue;
-	} while (g_mkdir_with_parents (new_test_dir.c_str(), 0755) != 0);
-	return new_test_dir;
+	return PBD::tmp_writable_directory (PACKAGE, prefix);
 }
 
 void
diff --git a/libs/pbd/wscript b/libs/pbd/wscript
index ffaba88926..d8eacada95 100644
--- a/libs/pbd/wscript
+++ b/libs/pbd/wscript
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ def build(bld):
         testobj.uselib       = 'CPPUNIT XML SNDFILE'
         testobj.use          = 'libpbd'
         testobj.name         = 'libpbd-tests'
+        testobj.defines      = [ 'PACKAGE="' + I18N_PACKAGE + '"' ]
         if sys.platform != 'darwin' and bld.env['build_target'] != 'mingw':
             testobj.linkflags    = ['-lrt']