diff --git a/t/.gitignore b/t/.gitignore
index fad67c097b..11ffd910c1 100644
--- a/t/.gitignore
+++ b/t/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1 @@
-trash
+/trash directory
diff --git a/t/t6200-fmt-merge-msg.sh b/t/t6200-fmt-merge-msg.sh
index 526d7d1c44..9c0b92632c 100755
--- a/t/t6200-fmt-merge-msg.sh
+++ b/t/t6200-fmt-merge-msg.sh
@@ -82,14 +82,14 @@ test_expect_success 'merge-msg test #1' '
 	git diff actual expected
 '
 
-cat >expected <<\EOF
-Merge branch 'left' of ../trash
+cat >expected <<EOF
+Merge branch 'left' of ../$test
 EOF
 
 test_expect_success 'merge-msg test #2' '
 
 	git checkout master &&
-	git fetch ../trash left &&
+	git fetch ../"$test" left &&
 
 	git fmt-merge-msg <.git/FETCH_HEAD >actual &&
 	git diff actual expected
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index 04e098b96e..5002fb04b5 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -411,14 +411,14 @@ fi
 . ../GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS
 
 # Test repository
-test=trash
+test="trash directory"
 rm -fr "$test" || {
 	trap - exit
 	echo >&5 "FATAL: Cannot prepare test area"
 	exit 1
 }
 
-test_create_repo $test
+test_create_repo "$test"
 cd "$test"
 
 this_test=$(expr "./$0" : '.*/\(t[0-9]*\)-[^/]*$')