diff --git a/test/_common.py b/test/_common.py
index b9e6dde4a..d209bf4ef 100644
--- a/test/_common.py
+++ b/test/_common.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ import beetsplug
 beetsplug.__path__ = [ os.path.abspath(
     os.path.join(__file__, '..', '..', 'beetsplug')) ]
 
-# Test resources/sandbox path.
+# Test resources path.
 RSRC = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'rsrc')
 
 # Propagate to root loger so nosetest can capture it
@@ -184,29 +184,41 @@ class Timecop(object):
 class InputException(Exception):
     def __init__(self, output=None):
         self.output = output
+
     def __str__(self):
         msg = "Attempt to read with no input provided."
         if self.output is not None:
             msg += " Output: %s" % self.output
         return msg
+
+
 class DummyOut(object):
     encoding = 'utf8'
+
     def __init__(self):
         self.buf = []
+
     def write(self, s):
         self.buf.append(s)
+
     def get(self):
         return ''.join(self.buf)
+
     def clear(self):
         self.buf = []
+
+
 class DummyIn(object):
     encoding = 'utf8'
+
     def __init__(self, out=None):
         self.buf = []
         self.reads = 0
         self.out = out
+
     def add(self, s):
         self.buf.append(s + '\n')
+
     def readline(self):
         if not self.buf:
             if self.out:
@@ -215,6 +227,8 @@ class DummyIn(object):
                 raise InputException()
         self.reads += 1
         return self.buf.pop(0)
+
+
 class DummyIO(object):
     """Mocks input and output streams for testing UI code."""
     def __init__(self):
@@ -246,6 +260,7 @@ class DummyIO(object):
 def touch(path):
     open(path, 'a').close()
 
+
 class Bag(object):
     """An object that exposes a set of fields given as keyword
     arguments. Any field not found in the dictionary appears to be None.
@@ -270,6 +285,7 @@ def platform_windows():
     finally:
         os.path = old_path
 
+
 @contextmanager
 def platform_posix():
     import posixpath
@@ -280,6 +296,7 @@ def platform_posix():
     finally:
         os.path = old_path
 
+
 @contextmanager
 def system_mock(name):
     import platform
diff --git a/test/helper.py b/test/helper.py
index 704c824e0..92fbd626a 100644
--- a/test/helper.py
+++ b/test/helper.py
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ class TestHelper(object):
 
         Make sure you call ``teardown_beets()`` afterwards.
         """
-        self.temp_dir = mkdtemp()
+        self.create_temp_dir()
         os.environ['BEETSDIR'] = self.temp_dir
 
         self.config = beets.config
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ class TestHelper(object):
     def teardown_beets(self):
         del os.environ['BEETSDIR']
         # FIXME somehow close all open fd to the ilbrary
-        shutil.rmtree(self.temp_dir)
+        self.remove_temp_dir()
         self.config.clear()
 
     def load_plugins(self, *plugins):
@@ -208,3 +208,14 @@ class TestHelper(object):
         else:
             lib = Library(':memory:')
         beets.ui._raw_main(list(args), lib)
+
+    def create_temp_dir(self):
+        """Create a temporary directory and assign it into
+        `self.temp_dir`. Call `remove_temp_dir` later to delete it.
+        """
+        self.temp_dir = mkdtemp()
+
+    def remove_temp_dir(self):
+        """Delete the temporary directory created by `create_temp_dir`.
+        """
+        shutil.rmtree(self.temp_dir)
diff --git a/test/test_library.py b/test/test_library.py
index 41585d50b..f6e00b3e8 100644
--- a/test/test_library.py
+++ b/test/test_library.py
@@ -31,8 +31,6 @@ from beets import plugins
 from beets import config
 from beets.mediafile import MediaFile
 
-TEMP_LIB = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'test_copy.blb')
-
 # Shortcut to path normalization.
 np = util.normpath
 
@@ -62,7 +60,7 @@ class StoreTest(_common.LibTestCase):
 
     def test_store_only_writes_dirty_fields(self):
         original_genre = self.i.genre
-        self.i._values_fixed['genre'] = 'beatboxing' # change w/o dirtying
+        self.i._values_fixed['genre'] = 'beatboxing'  # change w/o dirtying
         self.i.store()
         new_genre = self.lib._connection().execute(
             'select genre from items where '
@@ -132,6 +130,7 @@ class DestinationTest(_common.TestCase):
         super(DestinationTest, self).setUp()
         self.lib = beets.library.Library(':memory:')
         self.i = item(self.lib)
+
     def tearDown(self):
         super(DestinationTest, self).tearDown()
         self.lib._connection().close()
@@ -452,6 +451,7 @@ class PathFormattingMixin(object):
     """Utilities for testing path formatting."""
     def _setf(self, fmt):
         self.lib.path_formats.insert(0, ('default', fmt))
+
     def _assert_dest(self, dest, i=None):
         if i is None:
             i = self.i
@@ -467,6 +467,7 @@ class DestinationFunctionTest(_common.TestCase, PathFormattingMixin):
         self.lib.directory = '/base'
         self.lib.path_formats = [('default', u'path')]
         self.i = item(self.lib)
+
     def tearDown(self):
         super(DestinationFunctionTest, self).tearDown()
         self.lib._connection().close()
@@ -613,11 +614,13 @@ class PluginDestinationTest(_common.TestCase):
 
         # Mock beets.plugins.item_field_getters.
         self._tv_map = {}
+
         def field_getters():
             getters = {}
             for key, value in self._tv_map.items():
                 getters[key] = lambda _: value
             return getters
+
         self.old_field_getters = plugins.item_field_getters
         plugins.item_field_getters = field_getters
 
@@ -876,7 +879,7 @@ class PathTruncationTest(_common.TestCase):
 class MtimeTest(_common.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         super(MtimeTest, self).setUp()
-        self.ipath = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'testfile.mp3')
+        self.ipath = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, 'testfile.mp3')
         shutil.copy(os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'full.mp3'), self.ipath)
         self.i = beets.library.Item.from_path(self.ipath)
         self.lib = beets.library.Library(':memory:')
@@ -945,8 +948,8 @@ class TemplateTest(_common.LibTestCase):
         self.album.store()
         self.assertEqual(self.i.evaluate_template('$foo'), 'baz')
 
-class WriteTest(_common.LibTestCase):
 
+class WriteTest(_common.LibTestCase):
     def test_write_nonexistant(self):
         self.i.path = '/path/does/not/exist'
         self.assertRaises(beets.library.ReadError, self.i.write)
@@ -956,8 +959,13 @@ class WriteTest(_common.LibTestCase):
         shutil.copy(os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'empty.mp3'), path)
         os.chmod(path, stat.S_IRUSR)
 
-        self.i.path = path
-        self.assertRaises(beets.library.WriteError, self.i.write)
+        try:
+            self.i.path = path
+            self.assertRaises(beets.library.WriteError, self.i.write)
+
+        finally:
+            # Restore write permissions so the file can be cleaned up.
+            os.chmod(path, stat.S_IRUSR | stat.S_IWUSR)
 
     def test_write_with_custom_path(self):
         custom_path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, 'file.mp3')
diff --git a/test/test_mediafile_edge.py b/test/test_mediafile_edge.py
index 03017430e..ad79c6ccc 100644
--- a/test/test_mediafile_edge.py
+++ b/test/test_mediafile_edge.py
@@ -19,16 +19,21 @@ import shutil
 
 import _common
 from _common import unittest
+from helper import TestHelper
 import beets.mediafile
 
 
+_sc = beets.mediafile._safe_cast
+
+
 class EdgeTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_emptylist(self):
         # Some files have an ID3 frame that has a list with no elements.
         # This is very hard to produce, so this is just the first 8192
         # bytes of a file found "in the wild".
         emptylist = beets.mediafile.MediaFile(
-                                os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'emptylist.mp3'))
+            os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'emptylist.mp3')
+        )
         genre = emptylist.genre
         self.assertEqual(genre, None)
 
@@ -36,7 +41,8 @@ class EdgeTest(unittest.TestCase):
         # Ensures that release times delimited by spaces are ignored.
         # Amie Street produces such files.
         space_time = beets.mediafile.MediaFile(
-                                os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'space_time.mp3'))
+            os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'space_time.mp3')
+        )
         self.assertEqual(space_time.year, 2009)
         self.assertEqual(space_time.month, 9)
         self.assertEqual(space_time.day, 4)
@@ -45,7 +51,8 @@ class EdgeTest(unittest.TestCase):
         # Ensures that release times delimited by Ts are ignored.
         # The iTunes Store produces such files.
         t_time = beets.mediafile.MediaFile(
-                                os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 't_time.m4a'))
+            os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 't_time.m4a')
+        )
         self.assertEqual(t_time.year, 1987)
         self.assertEqual(t_time.month, 3)
         self.assertEqual(t_time.day, 31)
@@ -69,7 +76,6 @@ class EdgeTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(f.bitrate, 0)
 
 
-_sc = beets.mediafile._safe_cast
 class InvalidValueToleranceTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_safe_cast_string_to_int(self):
@@ -102,15 +108,21 @@ class InvalidValueToleranceTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertTrue(us.startswith(u'caf'))
 
 
-class SafetyTest(unittest.TestCase):
+class SafetyTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.create_temp_dir()
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        self.remove_temp_dir()
+
     def _exccheck(self, fn, exc, data=''):
-        fn = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, fn)
+        fn = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, fn)
         with open(fn, 'w') as f:
             f.write(data)
         try:
             self.assertRaises(exc, beets.mediafile.MediaFile, fn)
         finally:
-            os.unlink(fn) # delete the temporary file
+            os.unlink(fn)  # delete the temporary file
 
     def test_corrupt_mp3_raises_unreadablefileerror(self):
         # Make sure we catch Mutagen reading errors appropriately.
@@ -139,6 +151,7 @@ class SafetyTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self._exccheck('nothing.xml', beets.mediafile.UnreadableFileError,
                        "ftyp")
 
+    @unittest.skipIf(not hasattr(os, 'symlink'), 'platform lacks symlink')
     def test_broken_symlink(self):
         fn = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'brokenlink')
         os.symlink('does_not_exist', fn)
@@ -160,16 +173,17 @@ class SideEffectsTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(old_mtime, new_mtime)
 
 
-class EncodingTest(unittest.TestCase):
+class EncodingTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
     def setUp(self):
+        self.create_temp_dir()
         src = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'full.m4a')
-        self.path = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'test.m4a')
+        self.path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, 'test.m4a')
         shutil.copy(src, self.path)
 
         self.mf = beets.mediafile.MediaFile(self.path)
 
     def tearDown(self):
-        os.remove(self.path)
+        self.remove_temp_dir()
 
     def test_unicode_label_in_m4a(self):
         self.mf.label = u'foo\xe8bar'
@@ -191,7 +205,7 @@ class MissingAudioDataTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.mf = ZeroLengthMediaFile(path)
 
     def test_bitrate_with_zero_length(self):
-        del self.mf.mgfile.info.bitrate # Not available directly.
+        del self.mf.mgfile.info.bitrate  # Not available directly.
         self.assertEqual(self.mf.bitrate, 0)
 
 
@@ -242,15 +256,16 @@ class SoundCheckTest(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(peak, 0.0)
 
 
-class ID3v23Test(unittest.TestCase):
+class ID3v23Test(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
     def _make_test(self, ext='mp3'):
+        self.create_temp_dir()
         src = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'full.{0}'.format(ext))
-        self.path = os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'test.{0}'.format(ext))
+        self.path = os.path.join(self.temp_dir, 'test.{0}'.format(ext))
         shutil.copy(src, self.path)
         return beets.mediafile.MediaFile(self.path)
 
     def _delete_test(self):
-        os.remove(self.path)
+        self.remove_temp_dir()
 
     def test_v24_year_tag(self):
         mf = self._make_test()