diff --git a/directory_hook.go b/directory_hook.go
index 1104dcbd..ab78bbd8 100644
--- a/directory_hook.go
+++ b/directory_hook.go
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"talisman/gitrepo"
+	"talisman/utility"
 
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
 
@@ -35,5 +35,5 @@ func (p *DirectoryHook) GetFilesFromDirectory(globPattern string) []gitrepo.Addi
 
 func ReadFile(filepath string) ([]byte, error) {
 	log.Debugf("reading file %s", filepath)
-	return ioutil.ReadFile(filepath)
+	return utility.SafeReadFile(filepath)
 }
diff --git a/git_testing/git_testing.go b/git_testing/git_testing.go
index 03c829e6..5607ae71 100644
--- a/git_testing/git_testing.go
+++ b/git_testing/git_testing.go
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ func Init(gitRoot string) *GitTesting {
 	os.MkdirAll(gitRoot, 0777)
 	testingRepo := &GitTesting{gitRoot}
 	testingRepo.ExecCommand("git", "init", ".")
-	gitConfigFileObject, _ := ioutil.TempFile("/tmp", "gitConfigForTalismanTests")
+	gitConfigFileObject, _ := ioutil.TempFile(os.TempDir(), "gitConfigForTalismanTests")
 	gitConfigFile = gitConfigFileObject.Name()
 	testingRepo.CreateFileWithContents(gitConfigFile, `[user]
 	email = talisman-test-user@example.com