diff --git a/tests/items/s3/test_s3item_source.py b/tests/items/s3/test_s3item_source.py
index 1ff675d..99f615d 100644
--- a/tests/items/s3/test_s3item_source.py
+++ b/tests/items/s3/test_s3item_source.py
@@ -8,24 +8,16 @@ from unittest.mock import MagicMock, Mock, patch
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.item import ItemType
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.s3.s3item import S3Item
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.s3.s3item_source import S3ItemSource
+from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
 
 
 class TestScanDirectory(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        self._tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        self._cellxgene_data = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_DATA", "")
-        os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._tmpdir
-
-        from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
 
         self.app = app
 
     def tearDown(self):
-        if self._cellxgene_data:
-            os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._cellxgene_data
-        else:
-            del os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"]
-        shutil.rmtree(self._tmpdir)
+        pass
 
     @patch("s3fs.S3FileSystem")
     def test_GIVEN_invalid_bucket_THEN_throws_error(self, s3func):
diff --git a/tests/test_cache_entry.py b/tests/test_cache_entry.py
index 3c1054f..f98b1dd 100644
--- a/tests/test_cache_entry.py
+++ b/tests/test_cache_entry.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from cellxgene_gateway.cache_key import CacheKey
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.item import ItemType
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.file.fileitem import FileItem
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.file.fileitem_source import FileItemSource
+from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
 
 key = CacheKey(
     FileItem("/czi/", name="pbmc3k.h5ad", type=ItemType.h5ad),
@@ -19,12 +20,6 @@ key = CacheKey(
 
 class TestRenderEntry(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        self._tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        self._cellxgene_data = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_DATA", "")
-        os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._tmpdir
-
-        from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
-
         self.app = app
         self.app_context = self.app.test_request_context()
         self.app_context.push()
@@ -32,12 +27,7 @@ class TestRenderEntry(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def tearDown(self):
         self.app_context.pop()
-        if self._cellxgene_data:
-            os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._cellxgene_data
-        else:
-            del os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"]
-        shutil.rmtree(self._tmpdir)
-
+        
     def test_GIVEN_key_and_port_THEN_returns_loading_CacheEntry(self):
         entry = CacheEntry.for_key("some-key", 1)
         self.assertEqual(entry.status, CacheEntryStatus.loading)
diff --git a/tests/test_filecrawl.py b/tests/test_filecrawl.py
index d42d783..b77e9bd 100644
--- a/tests/test_filecrawl.py
+++ b/tests/test_filecrawl.py
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ from cellxgene_gateway.filecrawl import (
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.file.fileitem import FileItem
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.file.fileitem_source import FileItemSource
 from cellxgene_gateway.items.item import ItemTree, ItemType
+from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
 
 source = FileItemSource("/tmp")
 
@@ -29,23 +30,12 @@ def make_entry(subpath="somepath", annotations=None):
 
 class TestRenderEntry(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        self._tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        self._cellxgene_data = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_DATA", "")
-        os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._tmpdir
-
-        from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
-
         self.app = app
         self.app_context = self.app.test_request_context()
         self.app_context.push()
 
     def tearDown(self):
         self.app_context.pop()
-        if self._cellxgene_data:
-            os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._cellxgene_data
-        else:
-            del os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"]
-        shutil.rmtree(self._tmpdir)
 
     def test_GIVEN_path_both_slash_THEN_view_has_single_slash(self):
         entry = make_entry(subpath="/somepath/")
@@ -71,23 +61,12 @@ class TestRenderEntry(unittest.TestCase):
 class TestRenderAnnotation(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self._tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        self._cellxgene_data = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_DATA", "")
-        os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._tmpdir
-
-        from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
-
         self.app = app
         self.app_context = self.app.test_request_context()
         self.app_context.push()
 
     def tearDown(self):
         self.app_context.pop()
-        if self._cellxgene_data:
-            os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._cellxgene_data
-        else:
-            del os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"]
-        shutil.rmtree(self._tmpdir)
 
     @patch("cellxgene_gateway.filecrawl.enable_annotations", new=True)
     def test_GIVEN_no_annotation_THEN_new_alone(self):
@@ -145,23 +124,12 @@ class TestRenderItemSource(unittest.TestCase):
 
 class TestRenderItemTree(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        self._tmpdir = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-        self._cellxgene_data = os.environ.get("CELLXGENE_DATA", "")
-        os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._tmpdir
-
-        from cellxgene_gateway.gateway import app
-
         self.app = app
         self.app_context = self.app.test_request_context()
         self.app_context.push()
 
     def tearDown(self):
         self.app_context.pop()
-        if self._cellxgene_data:
-            os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"] = self._cellxgene_data
-        else:
-            del os.environ["CELLXGENE_DATA"]
-        shutil.rmtree(self._tmpdir)
 
     @patch("cellxgene_gateway.items.file.fileitem_source.FileItemSource")
     def test_GIVEN_deep_nested_dirs_THEN_includes_dirs_in_output(self, item_source):