diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index b2e28e08..41c02da4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         os: [ubuntu-18.04, windows-latest, macos-latest]
         python_version: ['3.7']
+    timeout-minutes: 180
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v2
     - uses: actions/setup-python@v2
diff --git a/azure-pipelines.yml b/azure-pipelines.yml
index 3eaed5f4..74dc215d 100644
--- a/azure-pipelines.yml
+++ b/azure-pipelines.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ jobs:
 
 - job: windows_36
   pool: {vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016'}
+  timeoutInMinutes: 180
   steps:
     - task: UsePythonVersion@0
       inputs:
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ jobs:
 
 - job: windows_38
   pool: {vmImage: 'vs2017-win2016'}
+  timeoutInMinutes: 180
   steps:
     - task: UsePythonVersion@0
       inputs:
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/docker_container.py b/cibuildwheel/docker_container.py
index ecf9c52f..8c3a608b 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/docker_container.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/docker_container.py
@@ -27,12 +27,14 @@ class DockerContainer:
     bash_stdin: IO[bytes]
     bash_stdout: IO[bytes]
 
-    def __init__(self, docker_image: str, simulate_32_bit=False):
+    def __init__(self, docker_image: str, simulate_32_bit: bool = False, cwd: Optional[Union[str, PathLike]] = None):
         self.docker_image = docker_image
         self.simulate_32_bit = simulate_32_bit
+        self.cwd = cwd
 
     def __enter__(self) -> 'DockerContainer':
         self.name = f'cibuildwheel-{uuid.uuid4()}'
+        cwd_args = ['-w', str(self.cwd)] if self.cwd else []
         shell_args = ['linux32', '/bin/bash'] if self.simulate_32_bit else ['/bin/bash']
         subprocess.run(
             [
@@ -41,6 +43,7 @@ class DockerContainer:
                 '--name', self.name,
                 '-i',
                 '-v', '/:/host',  # ignored on CircleCI
+                *cwd_args,
                 self.docker_image,
                 *shell_args
             ],
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/linux.py b/cibuildwheel/linux.py
index e4607f0c..344b944a 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/linux.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/linux.py
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ def build(options: BuildOptions) -> None:
             continue
 
         try:
-            with DockerContainer(docker_image, simulate_32_bit=platform_tag.endswith('i686')) as docker:
-                docker.copy_into(Path.cwd(), Path('/project'))
+            with DockerContainer(docker_image, simulate_32_bit=platform_tag.endswith('i686'), cwd='/project') as docker:
+                docker.copy_into(Path.cwd(), PurePath('/project'))
 
                 if options.before_all:
                     env = docker.get_environment()
diff --git a/test/test_before_all.py b/test/test_before_all.py
index 177ec555..73d36ff6 100644
--- a/test/test_before_all.py
+++ b/test/test_before_all.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-import os
+import pytest
+import subprocess
 import textwrap
 
 from . import utils
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ def test(tmp_path):
     project_dir = tmp_path / 'project'
     project_with_before_build_asserts.generate(project_dir)
 
-    with open(os.path.join(project_dir, "text_info.txt"), mode='w') as ff:
+    with (project_dir / 'text_info.txt').open(mode='w') as ff:
         print("dummy text", file=ff)
 
     # build the wheels
@@ -33,6 +34,30 @@ def test(tmp_path):
     })
 
     # also check that we got the right wheels
-    os.remove(os.path.join(project_dir, "text_info.txt"))
+    (project_dir / 'text_info.txt').unlink()
+    expected_wheels = utils.expected_wheels('spam', '0.1.0')
+    assert set(actual_wheels) == set(expected_wheels)
+
+
+def test_failing_command(tmp_path):
+    project_dir = tmp_path / 'project'
+    test_projects.new_c_project().generate(project_dir)
+
+    with pytest.raises(subprocess.CalledProcessError):
+        utils.cibuildwheel_run(project_dir, add_env={
+            'CIBW_BEFORE_ALL': 'false',
+            'CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_WINDOWS': 'exit /b 1',
+        })
+
+
+def test_cwd(tmp_path):
+    project_dir = tmp_path / 'project'
+    test_projects.new_c_project().generate(project_dir)
+
+    actual_wheels = utils.cibuildwheel_run(project_dir, add_env={
+        'CIBW_BEFORE_ALL': f'''python -c "import os; assert os.getcwd() == {str(project_dir)!r}"''',
+        'CIBW_BEFORE_ALL_LINUX': '''python -c "import os; assert os.getcwd() == '/project'"''',
+    })
+
     expected_wheels = utils.expected_wheels('spam', '0.1.0')
     assert set(actual_wheels) == set(expected_wheels)
diff --git a/test/test_before_build.py b/test/test_before_build.py
index 11c752f0..cb92280b 100644
--- a/test/test_before_build.py
+++ b/test/test_before_build.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import pytest
+import subprocess
 import textwrap
 
 from . import utils
@@ -32,14 +34,41 @@ def test(tmp_path):
     project_dir = tmp_path / 'project'
     project_with_before_build_asserts.generate(project_dir)
 
+    before_build = ('''python -c "import sys; open('{output_dir}pythonversion.txt', 'w').write(sys.version)" && '''
+                    '''python -c "import sys; open('{output_dir}pythonexecutable.txt', 'w').write(sys.executable)"''')
+
     # build the wheels
     actual_wheels = utils.cibuildwheel_run(project_dir, add_env={
         # write python version information to a temporary file, this is
         # checked in setup.py
-        'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD': '''python -c "import sys; open('/tmp/pythonversion.txt', 'w').write(sys.version)" && python -c "import sys; open('/tmp/pythonexecutable.txt', 'w').write(sys.executable)"''',
-        'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD_WINDOWS': '''python -c "import sys; open('c:\\pythonversion.txt', 'w').write(sys.version)" && python -c "import sys; open('c:\\pythonexecutable.txt', 'w').write(sys.executable)"''',
+        'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD': before_build.format(output_dir='/tmp/'),
+        'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD_WINDOWS': before_build.format(output_dir=r'c:\\'),
     })
 
     # also check that we got the right wheels
     expected_wheels = utils.expected_wheels('spam', '0.1.0')
     assert set(actual_wheels) == set(expected_wheels)
+
+
+def test_failing_command(tmp_path):
+    project_dir = tmp_path / 'project'
+    test_projects.new_c_project().generate(project_dir)
+
+    with pytest.raises(subprocess.CalledProcessError):
+        utils.cibuildwheel_run(project_dir, add_env={
+            'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD': 'false',
+            'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD_WINDOWS': 'exit /b 1',
+        })
+
+
+def test_cwd(tmp_path):
+    project_dir = tmp_path / 'project'
+    test_projects.new_c_project().generate(project_dir)
+
+    actual_wheels = utils.cibuildwheel_run(project_dir, add_env={
+        'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD': f'''python -c "import os; assert os.getcwd() == {str(project_dir)!r}"''',
+        'CIBW_BEFORE_BUILD_LINUX': '''python -c "import os; assert os.getcwd() == '/project'"''',
+    })
+
+    expected_wheels = utils.expected_wheels('spam', '0.1.0')
+    assert set(actual_wheels) == set(expected_wheels)
diff --git a/unit_test/docker_container_test.py b/unit_test/docker_container_test.py
index a3b6f06d..22771ed2 100644
--- a/unit_test/docker_container_test.py
+++ b/unit_test/docker_container_test.py
@@ -41,6 +41,13 @@ def test_environment():
         assert container.call(['sh', '-c', 'echo $TEST_VAR'], env={'TEST_VAR': '1'}, capture_output=True) == '1\n'
 
 
+@pytest.mark.docker
+def test_cwd():
+    with DockerContainer(DEFAULT_IMAGE, cwd='/cibuildwheel/working_directory') as container:
+        assert container.call(['pwd'], capture_output=True) == '/cibuildwheel/working_directory\n'
+        assert container.call(['pwd'], capture_output=True, cwd='/opt') == '/opt\n'
+
+
 @pytest.mark.docker
 def test_container_removed():
     with DockerContainer(DEFAULT_IMAGE) as container: