diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index ebc0860..4e2e190 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -14,4 +14,6 @@ pub mod engines;
 pub mod instance;
 pub mod rolling;
 pub mod state;
+#[cfg(test)]
+pub(crate) mod test;
 pub mod util;
diff --git a/src/test.rs b/src/test.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ac0473
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+// Copyright (c) 2026 Nutanix, Inc.
+//
+// Author: Leonardo Forchini <leonardo.forchini@nutanix.com>
+//
+//! Shared infrastructure for crate unit tests.
+
+use std::{cell::RefCell, path::PathBuf};
+
+use rstest::fixture;
+
+thread_local! {
+    pub static ROOT_OVERRIDE: RefCell<Option<PathBuf>> = const { RefCell::new(None) };
+}
+
+/// Scoped root override for tests that access absolute paths through
+/// `util::Path`.
+pub(crate) struct RootOverride {
+    previous: Option<PathBuf>,
+}
+
+impl Drop for RootOverride {
+    fn drop(&mut self) {
+        ROOT_OVERRIDE.with(|root| {
+            root.replace(self.previous.take());
+        });
+    }
+}
+
+/// Override the root used by `util::Path` on the current test thread.
+pub(crate) fn override_root(root: impl Into<PathBuf>) -> RootOverride {
+    let previous = ROOT_OVERRIDE.with(|slot| slot.replace(Some(root.into())));
+    RootOverride { previous }
+}
+
+/// Temporary mock root installed as the current test thread's `util::Path`
+/// prefix.
+pub(crate) struct MockDir {
+    _dir: tempfile::TempDir,
+    _root_override: RootOverride,
+    // path: PathBuf,
+}
+
+impl MockDir {
+    pub(crate) fn new() -> Self {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+
+        Self {
+            _root_override: override_root(dir.path()),
+            // path: dir.path().into(),
+            _dir: dir,
+        }
+    }
+
+    // pub(crate) fn join(&self, path: impl AsRef<Path>) -> PathBuf {
+    // self.path.join(path.as_ref())
+    // }
+}
+
+#[fixture]
+pub(crate) fn mock_dir() -> MockDir {
+    MockDir::new()
+}
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index 60c7719..d4536e1 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -69,12 +69,21 @@ impl fmt::Display for Path {
     }
 }
 
-static IO_THREAD_CONTROLLER_ROOT_PATH: LazyLock<std::path::PathBuf> = LazyLock::new(|| {
+static ROOT_PATH: LazyLock<std::path::PathBuf> = LazyLock::new(|| {
     std::path::PathBuf::from(
         env::var("IO_THREAD_CONTROLLER_ROOT_PATH").unwrap_or(String::from("/")),
     )
 });
 
+fn effective_root() -> std::path::PathBuf {
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    if let Some(root) = crate::test::ROOT_OVERRIDE.with(|slot| slot.borrow().clone()) {
+        return root;
+    }
+
+    ROOT_PATH.clone()
+}
+
 impl Path {
     pub fn new<S>(s: &S) -> Self
     where
@@ -82,7 +91,7 @@ impl Path {
     {
         let mut pb = std::path::PathBuf::from(s);
         if pb.is_absolute() {
-            pb = IO_THREAD_CONTROLLER_ROOT_PATH.join(pb.strip_prefix("/").expect("absolute path"))
+            pb = effective_root().join(pb.strip_prefix("/").expect("absolute path"))
         }
         Self { path: pb }
     }