diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index debd8b4751..ca6bdef63d 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -600,14 +600,14 @@ then
 fi
 
 # Test repository
-test="trash directory.$(basename "$0" .sh)"
-test -n "$root" && test="$root/$test"
-case "$test" in
-/*) TRASH_DIRECTORY="$test" ;;
- *) TRASH_DIRECTORY="$TEST_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/$test" ;;
+TRASH_DIRECTORY="trash directory.$(basename "$0" .sh)"
+test -n "$root" && TRASH_DIRECTORY="$root/$TRASH_DIRECTORY"
+case "$TRASH_DIRECTORY" in
+/*) ;; # absolute path is good
+ *) TRASH_DIRECTORY="$TEST_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY/$TRASH_DIRECTORY" ;;
 esac
 test ! -z "$debug" || remove_trash=$TRASH_DIRECTORY
-rm -fr "$test" || {
+rm -fr "$TRASH_DIRECTORY" || {
 	GIT_EXIT_OK=t
 	echo >&5 "FATAL: Cannot prepare test area"
 	exit 1
@@ -618,13 +618,13 @@ export HOME
 
 if test -z "$TEST_NO_CREATE_REPO"
 then
-	test_create_repo "$test"
+	test_create_repo "$TRASH_DIRECTORY"
 else
-	mkdir -p "$test"
+	mkdir -p "$TRASH_DIRECTORY"
 fi
 # Use -P to resolve symlinks in our working directory so that the cwd
 # in subprocesses like git equals our $PWD (for pathname comparisons).
-cd -P "$test" || exit 1
+cd -P "$TRASH_DIRECTORY" || exit 1
 
 this_test=${0##*/}
 this_test=${this_test%%-*}