diff --git a/tests/libtest.sh b/tests/libtest.sh
index f074827c9..26908c771 100644
--- a/tests/libtest.sh
+++ b/tests/libtest.sh
@@ -197,8 +197,8 @@ run_sh () {
 }
 
 skip_without_user_xattrs () {
-    touch test-xattrs
-    if ! setfattr -n user.testvalue -v somevalue test-xattrs; then
+    touch ${TEST_DATA_DIR}/test-xattrs
+    if ! setfattr -n user.testvalue -v somevalue ${TEST_DATA_DIR}/test-xattrs; then
         echo "1..0 # SKIP this test requires xattr support"
         exit 0
     fi