diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/root.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/root.py
index d1c702207..9185ac17a 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/root.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/root.py
@@ -4,19 +4,17 @@ from pathlib import Path
 import pytest
 
 TEST_ROOT = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
-PROJECT_ROOT = TEST_ROOT.parent
-
-CLAN_CORE_ = os.environ.get("CLAN_CORE")
-if CLAN_CORE_:
+PROJECT_ROOT = TEST_ROOT.parent.parent.parent
+if CLAN_CORE_ := os.environ.get("CLAN_CORE"):
     CLAN_CORE = Path(CLAN_CORE_)
 else:
-    CLAN_CORE = PROJECT_ROOT.parent.parent
+    CLAN_CORE = PROJECT_ROOT
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def project_root() -> Path:
     """
-    Root directory the clan-cli
+    Root directory the clan-core
     """
     return PROJECT_ROOT
 
diff --git a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/sshd.py b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/sshd.py
index 901d1e734..5e0ddab45 100644
--- a/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/sshd.py
+++ b/pkgs/clan-cli/tests/sshd.py
@@ -33,8 +33,11 @@ class SshdConfig:
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def sshd_config(project_root: Path, test_root: Path) -> Iterator[SshdConfig]:
-    # FIXME, if any parent of `project_root` is world-writable than sshd will refuse it.
-    with TemporaryDirectory(dir=project_root) as _dir:
+    # FIXME, if any parent of the sshd directory is world-writable than sshd will refuse it.
+    # we use .direnv instead since it's already in .gitignore
+    direnv = project_root / ".direnv"
+    direnv.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    with TemporaryDirectory(dir=direnv) as _dir:
         dir = Path(_dir)
         host_key = dir / "host_ssh_host_ed25519_key"
         subprocess.run(