diff --git a/bin/run_test.py b/bin/run_test.py
index 746061c4..cbf8bee3 100755
--- a/bin/run_test.py
+++ b/bin/run_test.py
@@ -3,10 +3,20 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 import os, sys, subprocess, shutil
 
+project_root = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
+test_utils_dir = os.path.join(project_root, 'test', 'shared')
+
 def single_run(test_project):
+    # set up an environment that gives access to the test utils
+    env = os.environ.copy()
+    env.update({
+        'PYTHONPATH': test_utils_dir,
+    })
+
     # run the test
     subprocess.check_call(
-        [sys.executable, '-m', 'pytest', '-v', os.path.join(test_project, 'cibuildwheel_test.py')]
+        [sys.executable, '-m', 'pytest', '-v', os.path.join(test_project, 'cibuildwheel_test.py')],
+        env=env,
     )
 
     # clean up
diff --git a/test/01_basic/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/01_basic/cibuildwheel_test.py
index 28b83184..008b8086 100644
--- a/test/01_basic/cibuildwheel_test.py
+++ b/test/01_basic/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 import subprocess, sys, os
 from glob import glob
-project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(project_dir), 'shared'))
-
 import utils
 
 def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+
     # build the wheels
     subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, '-m', 'cibuildwheel', project_dir]) 
     
diff --git a/test/02_test/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/02_test/cibuildwheel_test.py
index b6518cb1..9ec4fa56 100644
--- a/test/02_test/cibuildwheel_test.py
+++ b/test/02_test/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 import subprocess, sys, os
 from glob import glob
-project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(project_dir), 'shared'))
-
 import utils
 
 def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
     # set up the environment
     env = os.environ.copy()
     env['CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES'] = 'nose'
diff --git a/test/03_before_build/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/03_before_build/cibuildwheel_test.py
index 9caec0a8..5ce69243 100644
--- a/test/03_before_build/cibuildwheel_test.py
+++ b/test/03_before_build/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 import subprocess, sys, os
 from glob import glob
-project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(project_dir), 'shared'))
-
 import utils
 
 def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
     # set up the environment
     env = os.environ.copy()
     # write python version information to a temporary file, this is checked
diff --git a/test/04_build_skip/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/04_build_skip/cibuildwheel_test.py
index 5cecd275..db8d4e9a 100644
--- a/test/04_build_skip/cibuildwheel_test.py
+++ b/test/04_build_skip/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -1,11 +1,10 @@
 import subprocess, sys, os
 from glob import glob
-project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(project_dir), 'shared'))
-
 import utils
 
 def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+    
     # set up the environment
     env = os.environ.copy()
     env['CIBW_BUILD'] = 'cp3?-*'
diff --git a/test/05_environment/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/05_environment/cibuildwheel_test.py
index 3303aaff..7a707d91 100644
--- a/test/05_environment/cibuildwheel_test.py
+++ b/test/05_environment/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import subprocess, sys, os
 from glob import glob
-project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(project_dir), 'shared'))
 import utils
 
 def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+    
     # set up the environment
     env = os.environ.copy()
     # write some information into the CIBW_ENVIRONMENT, for expansion and
diff --git a/test/06_docker_images/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/06_docker_images/cibuildwheel_test.py
index 51686c78..de65c0e6 100644
--- a/test/06_docker_images/cibuildwheel_test.py
+++ b/test/06_docker_images/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 import subprocess, sys, os, pytest
 from glob import glob
-project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(project_dir), 'shared'))
 import utils
 
 def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
     if not sys.platform.startswith('linux'):
         pytest.skip('the docker test is only relevant to the linux build')
 
diff --git a/test/07_ssl/cibuildwheel_test.py b/test/07_ssl/cibuildwheel_test.py
index ec3cc1aa..97676b3a 100644
--- a/test/07_ssl/cibuildwheel_test.py
+++ b/test/07_ssl/cibuildwheel_test.py
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 import subprocess, sys, os
 from glob import glob
-project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
-sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(project_dir), 'shared'))
 import utils
 
 def test():
+    project_dir = os.path.dirname(__file__)
     # this test checks that SSL is working in the build environment using
     # some checks in setup.py.
 
diff --git a/test/shared/utils.py b/test/shared/utils.py
index e4eca4cb..fe5c1743 100644
--- a/test/shared/utils.py
+++ b/test/shared/utils.py
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+'''
+Utility functions used by the cibuildwheel tests.
+
+This file is added to the PYTHONPATH in the test runner at bin/run_test.py.
+'''
+
 import subprocess, sys
 
 def cibuildwheel_get_build_identifiers(project_path, env=None):