diff --git a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3951AbsolutePathsTest.java b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3951AbsolutePathsTest.java
index 649709fc25..a751255c01 100644
--- a/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3951AbsolutePathsTest.java
+++ b/its/core-it-suite/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/it/MavenITmng3951AbsolutePathsTest.java
@@ -69,10 +69,11 @@ public class MavenITmng3951AbsolutePathsTest
 
         verifier.assertFilePresent( "target/path.properties" );
         Properties props = verifier.loadProperties( "target/path.properties" );
-        assertEquals( new File( testDir.getCanonicalFile(), "tmp" ).getAbsoluteFile(),
-                      new File( props.getProperty( "fileParams.0" ) ) );
-        assertEquals( new File( getRoot( testDir ).getCanonicalFile(), "tmp" ).getCanonicalFile().getAbsoluteFile(),
-                      new File( props.getProperty( "fileParams.1" ) ) );
+
+        testDir = testDir.getCanonicalFile();
+
+        assertEquals( new File( testDir, "tmp" ).getAbsoluteFile(), new File( props.getProperty( "fileParams.0" ) ) );
+        assertEquals( new File( getRoot( testDir ), "tmp" ).getAbsoluteFile(), new File( props.getProperty( "fileParams.1" ) ) );
         assertEquals( new File( repoDir ), new File( props.getProperty( "stringParams.0" ) ) );
     }