diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
index 5b7a51c63..57d64763a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
@@ -14,8 +14,34 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
+  unit:
+    name: "unit - read only fixtures"
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+
+    steps:
+      - name: 'Install packages'
+        run: |
+            sudo apt-get -y update
+            sudo apt-get -y --no-install-recommends install git-lfs
+            sudo apt-get -y --no-install-recommends install diffstat diffutils git-core python3 python3-cryptography python3-pip python3-rpm python3-setuptools python3-urllib3
+
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - name: 'Change owner to root:root'
+        run: |
+          sudo chown -R root:root tests
+
+      - name: 'Run unit tests'
+        run: |
+          pip3 config set global.break-system-packages 1
+          pip3 install -e .
+          python3 setup.py test
+
   unit:
     name: "unit"
+    needs: "unit - read only fixtures"
     runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
diff --git a/tests/test_init_package.py b/tests/test_init_package.py
index 7fd92ec3a..a99d71163 100644
--- a/tests/test_init_package.py
+++ b/tests/test_init_package.py
@@ -16,15 +16,10 @@ def suite():
 
 class TestInitPackage(OscTestCase):
     def _get_fixtures_dir(self):
-        # workaround for git because it doesn't allow empty dirs
-        if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest')):
-            os.mkdir(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest'))
         return FIXTURES_DIR
 
-    def tearDown(self):
-        if os.path.exists(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest')):
-            os.rmdir(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest'))
-        super().tearDown()
+    def setUp(self):
+        super().setUp(copytree=False)
 
     def test_simple(self):
         """initialize a package dir"""
diff --git a/tests/test_init_project.py b/tests/test_init_project.py
index 4c0f24f61..d30af4a95 100644
--- a/tests/test_init_project.py
+++ b/tests/test_init_project.py
@@ -17,15 +17,10 @@ def suite():
 
 class TestInitProject(OscTestCase):
     def _get_fixtures_dir(self):
-        # workaround for git because it doesn't allow empty dirs
-        if not os.path.exists(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest')):
-            os.mkdir(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest'))
         return FIXTURES_DIR
 
-    def tearDown(self):
-        if os.path.exists(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest')):
-            os.rmdir(os.path.join(FIXTURES_DIR, 'osctest'))
-        super().tearDown()
+    def setUp(self):
+        super().setUp(copytree=False)
 
     def test_simple(self):
         """initialize a project dir"""
diff --git a/tests/test_prdiff.py b/tests/test_prdiff.py
index 8e36cb727..a5439260e 100644
--- a/tests/test_prdiff.py
+++ b/tests/test_prdiff.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 import os
 import re
+import shutil
 import sys
+import tempfile
 import unittest
 
 import osc.commandline
@@ -50,6 +52,18 @@ def suite():
 class TestProjectDiff(OscTestCase):
     diff_hdr = 'Index: %s\n==================================================================='
 
+    def setUp(self, copytree=True):
+        super().setUp(copytree=copytree)
+        self.tmpdir_fixtures = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='osc_test')
+        shutil.copytree(self._get_fixtures_dir(), os.path.join(self.tmpdir_fixtures, "fixtures"))
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        try:
+            shutil.rmtree(self.tmpdir_fixtures)
+        except:
+            pass
+        super().tearDown()
+
     def _get_fixtures_dir(self):
         return FIXTURES_DIR
 
@@ -85,10 +99,10 @@ def runner():
         os.chdir('/tmp')
         self.assertRaises(osc.oscerr.WrongArgs, runner)
 
-        self._change_to_tmpdir(FIXTURES_DIR, UPSTREAM)
+        self._change_to_tmpdir(self.tmpdir_fixtures, "fixtures", UPSTREAM)
         self.assertRaises(osc.oscerr.WrongArgs, runner)
 
-        self._change_to_tmpdir(FIXTURES_DIR, BRANCH)
+        self._change_to_tmpdir(self.tmpdir_fixtures, "fixtures", BRANCH)
         out = self._run_prdiff()
         self.assertEqualMultiline(out, exp)