diff --git a/crates/libcontainer/src/utils.rs b/crates/libcontainer/src/utils.rs
index 818a2c3c..efc6335e 100644
--- a/crates/libcontainer/src/utils.rs
+++ b/crates/libcontainer/src/utils.rs
@@ -556,11 +556,13 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn test_is_executable() {
         let executable_path = PathBuf::from("/bin/sh");
-        let directory_path = PathBuf::from("/tmp");
-        // a file guaranteed to be on linux and not executable
-        let non_executable_path = PathBuf::from("/boot/initrd.img");
+        let directory_path =
+            create_temp_dir("test_is_executable").expect("create temp directory for test");
+        let non_executable_path = directory_path.join("non_executable_file");
         let non_existent_path = PathBuf::from("/some/non/existent/path");
 
+        File::create(non_executable_path.as_path()).unwrap();
+
         assert!(is_executable(&non_existent_path).is_err());
         assert!(is_executable(&executable_path).unwrap());
         assert!(!is_executable(&non_executable_path).unwrap());