diff --git a/test/setup_transfer.cpp b/test/setup_transfer.cpp
index e19ed1886..45986eca0 100644
--- a/test/setup_transfer.cpp
+++ b/test/setup_transfer.cpp
@@ -493,7 +493,14 @@ void create_random_files(std::string const& path, const int file_sizes[], int nu
 		std::generate(random_data, random_data + 300000, random_byte);
 		char filename[200];
 		snprintf(filename, sizeof(filename), "test%d", i);
-		std::string full_path = combine_path(path, filename);
+		char dirname[200];
+		snprintf(dirname, sizeof(dirname), "test_dir%d", i / 5);
+
+		std::string full_path = combine_path(path, dirname);
+		error_code ec;
+		create_directory(full_path, ec);
+		full_path = combine_path(full_path, filename);
+
 		int to_write = file_sizes[i];
 		file f(full_path, file::write_only, ec);
 		if (ec) fprintf(stderr, "failed to create file \"%s\": (%d) %s\n"
diff --git a/test/test_checking.cpp b/test/test_checking.cpp
index 4031703b2..2edbc615e 100644
--- a/test/test_checking.cpp
+++ b/test/test_checking.cpp
@@ -114,8 +114,12 @@ void test_checking(bool read_only_files, bool corrupt_files = false)
 		{
 			char name[1024];
 			snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "test%d", i);
-			std::string path = combine_path("tmp1_checking", "test_torrent_dir");
+			char dirname[200];
+			snprintf(dirname, sizeof(dirname), "test_dir%d", i / 5);
+
+			std::string path = combine_path(combine_path("tmp1_checking", "test_torrent_dir"), dirname);
 			path = combine_path(path, name);
+
 #ifdef TORRENT_WINDOWS
 			SetFileAttributesA(path.c_str(), FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY);
 #else
@@ -173,7 +177,10 @@ void test_checking(bool read_only_files, bool corrupt_files = false)
 		{
 			char name[1024];
 			snprintf(name, sizeof(name), "test%d", i);
-			std::string path = combine_path("tmp1_checking", "test_torrent_dir");
+			char dirname[200];
+			snprintf(dirname, sizeof(dirname), "test_dir%d", i / 5);
+
+			std::string path = combine_path(combine_path("tmp1_checking", "test_torrent_dir"), dirname);
 			path = combine_path(path, name);
 #ifdef TORRENT_WINDOWS
 			SetFileAttributesA(path.c_str(), FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL);