diff --git a/test/README.testsuite b/test/README.testsuite
index 9070d0c60c..695cce15aa 100644
--- a/test/README.testsuite
+++ b/test/README.testsuite
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ INTERACTIVE_DEBUG=1
     the test, etc.)
 
 The kernel and initrd can be specified with $KERNEL_BIN and $INITRD. (Fedora's
-or Debian's default kernel path and initrd are used by default)
+or Debian's default kernel path and initrd are used by default.)
 
 A script will try to find your qemu binary. If you want to specify a different
 one with $QEMU_BIN.
@@ -107,12 +107,12 @@ one with $QEMU_BIN.
 Debugging the qemu image
 ========================
 
-If you want to log in the testsuite virtual machine, you can specify additional
-kernel command line parameter with $KERNEL_APPEND and then log in as root.
+If you want to log in the testsuite virtual machine, use INTERACTIVE_DEBUG=1
+and log in as root:
 
-$ sudo make -C test/TEST-01-BASIC KERNEL_APPEND="systemd.unit=multi-user.target" run
+$ sudo make -C test/TEST-01-BASIC INTERACTIVE_DEBUG=1 run
 
-Root password is empty.
+The root password is empty.
 
 Ubuntu CI
 =========
diff --git a/test/units/testsuite-58.sh b/test/units/testsuite-58.sh
index acd03d2fdf..de00f59d26 100755
--- a/test/units/testsuite-58.sh
+++ b/test/units/testsuite-58.sh
@@ -95,12 +95,13 @@ testcase_basic() {
     local defs imgs output
     local loop volume
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    # 1. create an empty image
+    echo "*** 1. create an empty image ***"
 
     runas testuser systemd-repart --empty=create \
                                   --size=1G \
@@ -116,23 +117,23 @@ unit: sectors
 first-lba: 2048
 last-lba: 2097118"
 
-    # 2. Testing with root, root2, home, and swap
+    echo "*** 2. Testing with root, root2, home, and swap ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 EOF
 
     ln -s root.conf "$defs/root2.conf"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/home.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/home.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=home
 Label=home-first
 Label=home-always-too-long-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-%v
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=64M
@@ -191,15 +192,15 @@ $imgs/zzz2 : start=      593904, size=      591856, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${ro
 $imgs/zzz3 : start=     1185760, size=      591864, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${root_uuid2}, name=\"root-${architecture}-2\", attrs=\"GUID:59\"
 $imgs/zzz4 : start=     1777624, size=      131072, type=0657FD6D-A4AB-43C4-84E5-0933C84B4F4F, uuid=78C92DB8-3D2B-4823-B0DC-792B78F66F1E, name=\"swap\""
 
-    # 3. Testing with root, root2, home, swap, and another partition
+    echo "*** 3. Testing with root, root2, home, swap, and another partition ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/swap.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=64M
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/extra.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/extra.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Label=custom_label
@@ -228,7 +229,7 @@ $imgs/zzz3 : start=     1185760, size=      591864, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${ro
 $imgs/zzz4 : start=     1777624, size=      131072, type=0657FD6D-A4AB-43C4-84E5-0933C84B4F4F, uuid=78C92DB8-3D2B-4823-B0DC-792B78F66F1E, name=\"swap\"
 $imgs/zzz5 : start=     1908696, size=      188416, type=0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79-3D69D8477DE4, uuid=A0A1A2A3-A4A5-A6A7-A8A9-AAABACADAEAF, name=\"custom_label\""
 
-    # 4. Resizing to 2G
+    echo "*** 4. Resizing to 2G ***"
 
     runas testuser systemd-repart --definitions="$defs" \
                                   --size=2G \
@@ -250,11 +251,11 @@ $imgs/zzz3 : start=     1185760, size=      591864, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${ro
 $imgs/zzz4 : start=     1777624, size=      131072, type=0657FD6D-A4AB-43C4-84E5-0933C84B4F4F, uuid=78C92DB8-3D2B-4823-B0DC-792B78F66F1E, name=\"swap\"
 $imgs/zzz5 : start=     1908696, size=     2285568, type=0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79-3D69D8477DE4, uuid=A0A1A2A3-A4A5-A6A7-A8A9-AAABACADAEAF, name=\"custom_label\""
 
-    # 5. Testing with root, root2, home, swap, another partition, and partition copy
+    echo "*** 5. Testing with root, root2, home, swap, another partition, and partition copy ***"
 
     dd if=/dev/urandom of="$imgs/block-copy" bs=4096 count=10240
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/extra2.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/extra2.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Label=block-copy
@@ -285,9 +286,9 @@ $imgs/zzz6 : start=     4194264, size=     2097152, type=0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79
 
     cmp --bytes=$((4096*10240)) --ignore-initial=0:$((512*4194264)) "$imgs/block-copy" "$imgs/zzz"
 
-    # 6. Testing Format=/Encrypt=/CopyFiles=
+    echo "*** 6. Testing Format=/Encrypt=/CopyFiles= ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/extra3.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/extra3.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=linux-generic
 Label=luks-format-copy
@@ -298,6 +299,10 @@ CopyFiles=$defs:/def
 SizeMinBytes=48M
 EOF
 
+    # CopyFiles will fail if we try to chown the target file to root.
+    # Make the files owned by the user so that the invocation below works.
+    chown testuser -R "$defs"
+
     runas testuser systemd-repart --definitions="$defs" \
                                   --size=auto \
                                   --dry-run=no \
@@ -344,26 +349,27 @@ $imgs/zzz7 : start=     6291416, size=       98304, type=0FC63DAF-8483-4772-8E79
 testcase_dropin() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=64M
 UUID=837c3d67-21b3-478e-be82-7e7f83bf96d3
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser mkdir -p "$defs/root.conf.d"
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf.d/override1.conf" <<EOF
+    mkdir -p "$defs/root.conf.d"
+    tee "$defs/root.conf.d/override1.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Label=label1
 SizeMaxBytes=32M
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf.d/override2.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/root.conf.d/override2.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Label=label2
 EOF
@@ -402,14 +408,14 @@ EOF
 testcase_multiple_definitions() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    runas testuser mkdir -p "$defs/1"
-
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/1/root1.conf" <<EOF
+    mkdir -p "$defs/1"
+    tee "$defs/1/root1.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=32M
@@ -417,9 +423,8 @@ UUID=7b93d1f2-595d-4ce3-b0b9-837fbd9e63b0
 Label=label1
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser mkdir -p "$defs/2"
-
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/2/root2.conf" <<EOF
+    mkdir -p "$defs/2"
+    tee "$defs/2/root2.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=swap
 SizeMaxBytes=32M
@@ -473,21 +478,22 @@ EOF
 testcase_copy_blocks() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    # First, create a disk image and verify its in order
+    echo "*** First, create a disk image and verify its in order ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=esp
 SizeMinBytes=10M
 Format=vfat
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr-${architecture}
 SizeMinBytes=10M
@@ -495,7 +501,7 @@ Format=ext4
 ReadOnly=yes
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 SizeMinBytes=10M
@@ -520,22 +526,22 @@ EOF
         return
     fi
 
-    # Then, create another image with CopyBlocks=auto
+    echo "*** Second, create another image with CopyBlocks=auto ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/esp.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=esp
 CopyBlocks=auto
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr-${architecture}
 ReadOnly=yes
 CopyBlocks=auto
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 CopyBlocks=auto
@@ -555,14 +561,15 @@ EOF
 testcase_unaligned_partition() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    # Operate on an image with unaligned partition.
+    echo "*** Operate on an image with unaligned partition ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 EOF
@@ -590,14 +597,15 @@ EOF
 testcase_issue_21817() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    # testcase for #21817
-
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/test.conf" <<EOF
+    echo "*** testcase for #21817 ***"
+
+    tee "$defs/test.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 EOF
@@ -626,21 +634,22 @@ EOF
 testcase_issue_24553() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    # testcase for #24553
-
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    echo "*** testcase for #24553 ***"
+
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 SizeMinBytes=10G
 SizeMaxBytes=120G
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$imgs/partscript" <<EOF
+    tee "$imgs/partscript" <<EOF
 label: gpt
 label-id: C9FFE979-A415-C449-B729-78C7AA664B10
 unit: sectors
@@ -650,7 +659,7 @@ start=40, size=524288, type=C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B, uuid=F2E89C8A-
 start=524328, size=14848000, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${root_uuid}, name="root-${architecture}"
 EOF
 
-    # 1. Operate on a small image compared with SizeMinBytes=.
+    echo "*** 1. Operate on a small image compared with SizeMinBytes= ***"
     runas testuser truncate -s 8g "$imgs/zzz"
     sfdisk "$imgs/zzz" <"$imgs/partscript"
 
@@ -663,7 +672,7 @@ EOF
     output=$(sfdisk --dump "$imgs/zzz")
     assert_in "$imgs/zzz2 : start=      524328, size=    14848000, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${root_uuid}, name=\"root-${architecture}\"" "$output"
 
-    # 2. Operate on an larger image compared with SizeMinBytes=.
+    echo "*** 2. Operate on an larger image compared with SizeMinBytes= ***"
     rm -f "$imgs/zzz"
     runas testuser truncate -s 12g "$imgs/zzz"
     sfdisk "$imgs/zzz" <"$imgs/partscript"
@@ -677,8 +686,8 @@ EOF
     output=$(sfdisk --dump "$imgs/zzz")
     assert_in "$imgs/zzz2 : start=      524328, size=    24641456, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${root_uuid}, name=\"root-${architecture}\"" "$output"
 
-    # 3. Multiple partitions with Priority= (small disk)
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    echo "*** 3. Multiple partitions with Priority= (small disk) ***"
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root
 SizeMinBytes=10G
@@ -686,7 +695,7 @@ SizeMaxBytes=120G
 Priority=100
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr
 SizeMinBytes=10M
@@ -707,7 +716,7 @@ EOF
     assert_in "$imgs/zzz2 : start=      524328, size=    14848000, type=${root_guid}, uuid=${root_uuid}, name=\"root-${architecture}\"" "$output"
     assert_in "$imgs/zzz3 : start=    15372328, size=     1404848, type=${usr_guid}, uuid=${usr_uuid}, name=\"usr-${architecture}\", attrs=\"GUID:59\"" "$output"
 
-    # 4. Multiple partitions with Priority= (large disk)
+    echo "*** 4. Multiple partitions with Priority= (large disk) ***"
     rm -f "$imgs/zzz"
     runas testuser truncate -s 12g "$imgs/zzz"
     sfdisk "$imgs/zzz" <"$imgs/partscript"
@@ -726,14 +735,15 @@ EOF
 testcase_zero_uuid() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    # Test image with zero UUID.
+    echo "*** Test image with zero UUID ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 UUID=null
@@ -754,12 +764,15 @@ EOF
 testcase_verity() {
     local defs imgs output
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/verity-data.conf" <<EOF
+    echo "*** dm-verity ***"
+
+    tee "$defs/verity-data.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 CopyFiles=${defs}
@@ -768,7 +781,7 @@ VerityMatchKey=root
 Minimize=guess
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/verity-hash.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/verity-hash.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}-verity
 Verity=hash
@@ -776,7 +789,7 @@ VerityMatchKey=root
 Minimize=yes
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/verity-sig.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/verity-sig.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}-verity-sig
 Verity=signature
@@ -784,7 +797,7 @@ VerityMatchKey=root
 EOF
 
     # Unfortunately OpenSSL insists on reading some config file, hence provide one with mostly placeholder contents
-    runas testuser tee >"$defs/verity.openssl.cnf" <<EOF
+    tee >"$defs/verity.openssl.cnf" <<EOF
 [ req ]
 prompt = no
 distinguished_name = req_distinguished_name
@@ -799,17 +812,22 @@ CN = Common Name
 emailAddress = test@email.com
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser openssl req -config "$defs/verity.openssl.cnf" \
-                               -new -x509 \
-                               -newkey rsa:1024 \
-                               -keyout "$defs/verity.key" \
-                               -out "$defs/verity.crt" \
-                               -days 365 \
-                               -nodes
+    openssl req \
+            -config "$defs/verity.openssl.cnf" \
+            -new -x509 \
+            -newkey rsa:1024 \
+            -keyout "$defs/verity.key" \
+            -out "$defs/verity.crt" \
+            -days 365 \
+            -nodes
 
     mkdir -p /run/verity.d
     ln -s "$defs/verity.crt" /run/verity.d/ok.crt
 
+    # CopyFiles will fail if we try to chown the target file to root.
+    # Make the files owned by the user so that the invocation below works.
+    chown testuser -R "$defs"
+
     output=$(runas testuser systemd-repart --definitions="$defs" \
                                            --seed="$seed" \
                                            --dry-run=no \
@@ -820,9 +838,9 @@ EOF
                                            --certificate="$defs/verity.crt" \
                                            "$imgs/verity")
 
-    drh=$(jq -r ".[] | select(.type == \"root-${architecture}\") | .roothash" <<< "$output")
-    hrh=$(jq -r ".[] | select(.type == \"root-${architecture}-verity\") | .roothash" <<< "$output")
-    srh=$(jq -r ".[] | select(.type == \"root-${architecture}-verity-sig\") | .roothash" <<< "$output")
+    drh=$(jq -r ".[] | select(.type == \"root-${architecture}\") | .roothash" <<<"$output")
+    hrh=$(jq -r ".[] | select(.type == \"root-${architecture}-verity\") | .roothash" <<<"$output")
+    srh=$(jq -r ".[] | select(.type == \"root-${architecture}-verity-sig\") | .roothash" <<<"$output")
 
     assert_eq "$drh" "$hrh"
     assert_eq "$hrh" "$srh"
@@ -843,27 +861,30 @@ EOF
 testcase_exclude_files() {
     local defs imgs root output
 
-    defs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    root="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    root="$(runas testuser mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.root.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs' '$root'" RETURN
+    chmod a+rx "$defs"
 
-    runas testuser touch "$root/abc"
-    runas testuser mkdir "$root/usr"
-    runas testuser touch "$root/usr/def"
-    runas testuser touch "$root/usr/qed"
-    runas testuser mkdir "$root/tmp"
-    runas testuser touch "$root/tmp/prs"
-    runas testuser mkdir "$root/proc"
-    runas testuser touch "$root/proc/prs"
-    runas testuser mkdir "$root/zzz"
-    runas testuser mkdir "$root/zzz/usr"
-    runas testuser touch "$root/zzz/usr/prs"
-    runas testuser mkdir "$root/zzz/proc"
-    runas testuser touch "$root/zzz/proc/prs"
+    echo "*** file exclusion ***"
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/00-root.conf" <<EOF
+    touch "$root/abc"
+    mkdir "$root/usr"
+    touch "$root/usr/def"
+    touch "$root/usr/qed"
+    mkdir "$root/tmp"
+    touch "$root/tmp/prs"
+    mkdir "$root/proc"
+    touch "$root/proc/prs"
+    mkdir "$root/zzz"
+    mkdir "$root/zzz/usr"
+    touch "$root/zzz/usr/prs"
+    mkdir "$root/zzz/proc"
+    touch "$root/zzz/proc/prs"
+
+    tee "$defs/00-root.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=root-${architecture}
 CopyFiles=/
@@ -872,13 +893,17 @@ CopyFiles=/:/oiu
 ExcludeFilesTarget=/oiu/usr
 EOF
 
-    runas testuser tee "$defs/10-usr.conf" <<EOF
+    tee "$defs/10-usr.conf" <<EOF
 [Partition]
 Type=usr-${architecture}
 CopyFiles=/usr:/
 ExcludeFiles=/usr/qed
 EOF
 
+    # CopyFiles will fail if we try to chown the target file to root.
+    # Make the files owned by the user so that the invocation below works.
+    chown testuser -R "$root"
+
     output=$(runas testuser systemd-repart --definitions="$defs" \
                                            --seed="$seed" \
                                            --dry-run=no \
@@ -940,8 +965,10 @@ testcase_minimize() {
         return
     fi
 
-    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    echo "*** minimization ***"
+
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN
 
@@ -994,8 +1021,10 @@ test_sector() {
         return
     fi
 
-    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
-    imgs="$(mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    echo "*** sector sizes ***"
+
+    defs="$(mktemp --directory "/tmp/test-repart.defs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
+    imgs="$(mktemp --directory "/var/tmp/test-repart.imgs.XXXXXXXXXX")"
     # shellcheck disable=SC2064
     trap "rm -rf '$defs' '$imgs'" RETURN