diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactory.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactory.java
index 0872242612..7236e0c3fe 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactory.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactory.java
@@ -7,29 +7,21 @@ import sonia.scm.repository.Repository;
 
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.nio.file.Files;
 
 public abstract class SimpleWorkdirFactory<R, C> implements WorkdirFactory<R, C> {
 
   private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(SimpleWorkdirFactory.class);
 
-  private final File poolDirectory;
+  private final WorkdirProvider workdirProvider;
 
-  public SimpleWorkdirFactory() {
-    this(new File(System.getProperty("scm.workdir" , System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")), "scm-work"));
-  }
-
-  public SimpleWorkdirFactory(File poolDirectory) {
-    this.poolDirectory = poolDirectory;
-    if (!poolDirectory.exists() && !poolDirectory.mkdirs()) {
-      throw new IllegalStateException("could not create pool directory " + poolDirectory);
-    }
+  public SimpleWorkdirFactory(WorkdirProvider workdirProvider) {
+    this.workdirProvider = workdirProvider;
   }
 
   @Override
   public WorkingCopy<R> createWorkingCopy(C context) {
     try {
-      File directory = createNewWorkdir();
+      File directory = workdirProvider.createNewWorkdir();
       ParentAndClone<R> parentAndClone = cloneRepository(context, directory);
       return new WorkingCopy<>(parentAndClone.getClone(), parentAndClone.getParent(), this::close, directory);
     } catch (IOException e) {
@@ -45,10 +37,6 @@ public abstract class SimpleWorkdirFactory<R, C> implements WorkdirFactory<R, C>
 
   protected abstract ParentAndClone<R> cloneRepository(C context, File target) throws IOException;
 
-  private File createNewWorkdir() throws IOException {
-    return Files.createTempDirectory(poolDirectory.toPath(),"workdir").toFile();
-  }
-
   private void close(R repository) {
     try {
       closeRepository(repository);
diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/WorkdirProvider.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/WorkdirProvider.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..35dae56faa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/WorkdirProvider.java
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+package sonia.scm.repository.util;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+
+public class WorkdirProvider {
+
+  private final File poolDirectory;
+
+  public WorkdirProvider() {
+    this(new File(System.getProperty("scm.workdir" , System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")), "scm-work"));
+  }
+
+  public WorkdirProvider(File poolDirectory) {
+    this.poolDirectory = poolDirectory;
+    if (!poolDirectory.exists() && !poolDirectory.mkdirs()) {
+      throw new IllegalStateException("could not create pool directory " + poolDirectory);
+    }
+  }
+
+  public File createNewWorkdir() {
+    try {
+      return Files.createTempDirectory(poolDirectory.toPath(),"workdir").toFile();
+    } catch (IOException e) {
+      throw new RuntimeException("could not create temporary workdir", e);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scm-core/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactoryTest.java b/scm-core/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactoryTest.java
index 2d3c2ed59e..31aa11c604 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactoryTest.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/util/SimpleWorkdirFactoryTest.java
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ public class SimpleWorkdirFactoryTest {
 
   @Before
   public void initFactory() throws IOException {
-    simpleWorkdirFactory = new SimpleWorkdirFactory<Closeable, Context>(temporaryFolder.newFolder()) {
+    WorkdirProvider workdirProvider = new WorkdirProvider(temporaryFolder.newFolder());
+    simpleWorkdirFactory = new SimpleWorkdirFactory<Closeable, Context>(workdirProvider) {
       @Override
       protected Repository getScmRepository(Context context) {
         return REPOSITORY;
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactory.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactory.java
index c30ff59afb..28042f0834 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactory.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactory.java
@@ -7,16 +7,14 @@ import org.eclipse.jgit.transport.ScmTransportProtocol;
 import sonia.scm.repository.GitWorkdirFactory;
 import sonia.scm.repository.InternalRepositoryException;
 import sonia.scm.repository.util.SimpleWorkdirFactory;
+import sonia.scm.repository.util.WorkdirProvider;
 
 import java.io.File;
 
 public class SimpleGitWorkdirFactory extends SimpleWorkdirFactory<Repository, GitContext> implements GitWorkdirFactory {
 
-  public SimpleGitWorkdirFactory() {
-  }
-
-  SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(File poolDirectory) {
-    super(poolDirectory);
+  public SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(WorkdirProvider workdirProvider) {
+    super(workdirProvider);
   }
 
   @Override
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBranchCommandTest.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBranchCommandTest.java
index e429aa5a42..aa5e641b31 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBranchCommandTest.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitBranchCommandTest.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import org.junit.Rule;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import sonia.scm.repository.Branch;
 import sonia.scm.repository.api.BranchRequest;
+import sonia.scm.repository.util.WorkdirProvider;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ public class GitBranchCommandTest extends AbstractGitCommandTestBase {
     branchRequest.setParentBranch(source.getName());
     branchRequest.setNewBranch("new_branch");
 
-    new GitBranchCommand(context, repository, new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory()).branch(branchRequest);
+    new GitBranchCommand(context, repository, new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(new WorkdirProvider())).branch(branchRequest);
 
     Branch newBranch = findBranch(context, "new_branch");
     Assertions.assertThat(newBranch.getRevision()).isEqualTo(source.getRevision());
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ public class GitBranchCommandTest extends AbstractGitCommandTestBase {
     BranchRequest branchRequest = new BranchRequest();
     branchRequest.setNewBranch("new_branch");
 
-    new GitBranchCommand(context, repository, new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory()).branch(branchRequest);
+    new GitBranchCommand(context, repository, new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(new WorkdirProvider())).branch(branchRequest);
 
     Assertions.assertThat(readBranches(context)).filteredOn(b -> b.getName().equals("new_branch")).isNotEmpty();
   }
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitMergeCommandTest.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitMergeCommandTest.java
index e8a62f5b86..8b3b4548d9 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitMergeCommandTest.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/GitMergeCommandTest.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import sonia.scm.repository.RepositoryManager;
 import sonia.scm.repository.api.HookContextFactory;
 import sonia.scm.repository.api.MergeCommandResult;
 import sonia.scm.repository.api.MergeDryRunCommandResult;
+import sonia.scm.repository.util.WorkdirProvider;
 import sonia.scm.user.User;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -244,6 +245,6 @@ public class GitMergeCommandTest extends AbstractGitCommandTestBase {
   }
 
   private GitMergeCommand createCommand() {
-    return new GitMergeCommand(createContext(), repository, new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory());
+    return new GitMergeCommand(createContext(), repository, new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(new WorkdirProvider()));
   }
 }
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactoryTest.java b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactoryTest.java
index 616df5e68e..1b3c730ef1 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactoryTest.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-git-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleGitWorkdirFactoryTest.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import sonia.scm.repository.GitRepositoryHandler;
 import sonia.scm.repository.PreProcessorUtil;
 import sonia.scm.repository.RepositoryManager;
 import sonia.scm.repository.api.HookContextFactory;
+import sonia.scm.repository.util.WorkdirProvider;
 import sonia.scm.repository.util.WorkingCopy;
 
 import java.io.File;
@@ -29,19 +30,21 @@ public class SimpleGitWorkdirFactoryTest extends AbstractGitCommandTestBase {
 
   // keep this so that it will not be garbage collected (Transport keeps this in a week reference)
   private ScmTransportProtocol proto;
+  private WorkdirProvider workdirProvider;
 
   @Before
-  public void bindScmProtocol() {
+  public void bindScmProtocol() throws IOException {
     HookContextFactory hookContextFactory = new HookContextFactory(mock(PreProcessorUtil.class));
     HookEventFacade hookEventFacade = new HookEventFacade(of(mock(RepositoryManager.class)), hookContextFactory);
     GitRepositoryHandler gitRepositoryHandler = mock(GitRepositoryHandler.class);
     proto = new ScmTransportProtocol(of(hookEventFacade), of(gitRepositoryHandler));
     Transport.register(proto);
+    workdirProvider = new WorkdirProvider(temporaryFolder.newFolder());
   }
 
   @Test
   public void emptyPoolShouldCreateNewWorkdir() throws IOException {
-    SimpleGitWorkdirFactory factory = new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(temporaryFolder.newFolder());
+    SimpleGitWorkdirFactory factory = new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(workdirProvider);
     File masterRepo = createRepositoryDirectory();
 
     try (WorkingCopy<Repository> workingCopy = factory.createWorkingCopy(createContext())) {
@@ -59,7 +62,7 @@ public class SimpleGitWorkdirFactoryTest extends AbstractGitCommandTestBase {
 
   @Test
   public void cloneFromPoolShouldNotBeReused() throws IOException {
-    SimpleGitWorkdirFactory factory = new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(temporaryFolder.newFolder());
+    SimpleGitWorkdirFactory factory = new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(workdirProvider);
 
     File firstDirectory;
     try (WorkingCopy<Repository> workingCopy = factory.createWorkingCopy(createContext())) {
@@ -73,7 +76,7 @@ public class SimpleGitWorkdirFactoryTest extends AbstractGitCommandTestBase {
 
   @Test
   public void cloneFromPoolShouldBeDeletedOnClose() throws IOException {
-    SimpleGitWorkdirFactory factory = new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(temporaryFolder.newFolder());
+    SimpleGitWorkdirFactory factory = new SimpleGitWorkdirFactory(workdirProvider);
 
     File directory;
     try (WorkingCopy<Repository> workingCopy = factory.createWorkingCopy(createContext())) {
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleHgWorkdirFactory.java b/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleHgWorkdirFactory.java
index 9565f672d5..b9194145e6 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleHgWorkdirFactory.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/main/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/SimpleHgWorkdirFactory.java
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import com.aragost.javahg.Repository;
 import com.aragost.javahg.commands.CloneCommand;
 import com.aragost.javahg.commands.PullCommand;
 import sonia.scm.repository.util.SimpleWorkdirFactory;
+import sonia.scm.repository.util.WorkdirProvider;
 import sonia.scm.web.HgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder;
 
 import javax.inject.Inject;
@@ -18,7 +19,8 @@ public class SimpleHgWorkdirFactory extends SimpleWorkdirFactory<Repository, HgC
   private final Provider<HgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder> hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder;
 
   @Inject
-  public SimpleHgWorkdirFactory(Provider<HgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder> hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder) {
+  public SimpleHgWorkdirFactory(Provider<HgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder> hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder, WorkdirProvider workdirProvider) {
+    super(workdirProvider);
     this.hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder = hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder;
   }
   @Override
diff --git a/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/HgBranchCommandTest.java b/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/HgBranchCommandTest.java
index c015aa0f62..7976af8b3b 100644
--- a/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/HgBranchCommandTest.java
+++ b/scm-plugins/scm-hg-plugin/src/test/java/sonia/scm/repository/spi/HgBranchCommandTest.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import org.junit.Test;
 import sonia.scm.repository.Branch;
 import sonia.scm.repository.HgTestUtil;
 import sonia.scm.repository.api.BranchRequest;
+import sonia.scm.repository.util.WorkdirProvider;
 import sonia.scm.web.HgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ public class HgBranchCommandTest extends AbstractHgCommandTestBase {
     HgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder =
       new HgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder(handler, HgTestUtil.createHookManager());
 
-    SimpleHgWorkdirFactory workdirFactory = new SimpleHgWorkdirFactory(Providers.of(hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder)) {
+    SimpleHgWorkdirFactory workdirFactory = new SimpleHgWorkdirFactory(Providers.of(hgRepositoryEnvironmentBuilder), new WorkdirProvider()) {
       @Override
       public void configure(PullCommand pullCommand) {
         // we do not want to configure http hooks in this unit test