diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 61adee45a..303756f4a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -18,13 +18,9 @@ build_race:
 	go build -race -o build/tendermint github.com/tendermint/tendermint/cmd/tendermint
 
 test: build
-	-rm -rf ~/.tendermint_test_bak
-	-mv ~/.tendermint_test ~/.tendermint_test_bak && true
 	go test github.com/tendermint/tendermint/...
 
 test_novendor: build
-	-rm -rf ~/.tendermint_test_bak
-	-mv ~/.tendermint_test ~/.tendermint_test_bak && true
 	go test $$(glide novendor)
 
 draw_deps:
diff --git a/config/tendermint_test/config.go b/config/tendermint_test/config.go
index 9820ba24a..12bf36699 100644
--- a/config/tendermint_test/config.go
+++ b/config/tendermint_test/config.go
@@ -26,6 +26,18 @@ func getTMRoot(rootDir string) string {
 
 func initTMRoot(rootDir string) {
 	rootDir = getTMRoot(rootDir)
+
+	// Remove ~/.tendermint_test_bak
+	err := os.RemoveAll(rootDir + "_bak")
+	if err != nil {
+		PanicSanity(err.Error())
+	}
+	// Move ~/.tendermint_test to ~/.tendermint_test_bak
+	err = os.Rename(rootDir, rootDir+"_bak")
+	if err != nil {
+		PanicSanity(err.Error())
+	}
+	// Create new dir
 	EnsureDir(rootDir, 0700)
 
 	configFilePath := path.Join(rootDir, "config.toml")
diff --git a/rpc/test/config.go b/rpc/test/config.go
index 787690974..2fe20981c 100644
--- a/rpc/test/config.go
+++ b/rpc/test/config.go
@@ -1,18 +1,13 @@
 package rpctest
 
 import (
-	cfg "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/config"
-	tmcfg "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/config/tendermint_test"
+	cfg "github.com/tendermint/go-config"
 )
 
 var config cfg.Config = nil
 
-func initConfig() {
-
+func init() {
 	cfg.OnConfig(func(newConfig cfg.Config) {
 		config = newConfig
 	})
-
-	c := tmcfg.GetConfig("")
-	cfg.ApplyConfig(c) // Notify modules of new config
 }
diff --git a/rpc/test/helpers.go b/rpc/test/helpers.go
index 21de52fa9..904fa00e1 100644
--- a/rpc/test/helpers.go
+++ b/rpc/test/helpers.go
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@ var (
 
 // initialize config and create new node
 func init() {
-	initConfig()
-
 	chainID = config.GetString("chain_id")
 	rpcAddr = config.GetString("rpc_laddr")
 	requestAddr = "http://" + rpcAddr