diff --git a/spec/unit/util/run_mode_spec.rb b/spec/unit/util/run_mode_spec.rb
index 69b25f22c..c146aa022 100755
--- a/spec/unit/util/run_mode_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/util/run_mode_spec.rb
@@ -1,51 +1,49 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env rspec
 require 'spec_helper'
 
 describe Puppet::Util::RunMode do
   before do
     @run_mode = Puppet::Util::RunMode.new('fake')
   end
 
   it "should have confdir /etc/puppet when run as root" do
     Puppet.features.stubs(:root?).returns(true)
     etcdir = Puppet.features.microsoft_windows? ? File.join(Dir::COMMON_APPDATA, "PuppetLabs", "puppet", "etc") : '/etc/puppet'
     # REMIND: issue with windows backslashes
     @run_mode.conf_dir.should == File.expand_path(etcdir)
   end
 
   it "should have confdir ~/.puppet when run as non-root" do
     Puppet.features.stubs(:root?).returns(false)
-    @run_mode.expects(:expand_path).with("~/.puppet").returns("~/.puppet")
-    @run_mode.conf_dir.should == "~/.puppet"
+    @run_mode.conf_dir.should == File.expand_path("~/.puppet")
   end
 
   it "should have vardir /var/lib/puppet when run as root" do
     Puppet.features.stubs(:root?).returns(true)
     vardir = Puppet.features.microsoft_windows? ? File.join(Dir::COMMON_APPDATA, "PuppetLabs", "puppet", "var") : '/var/lib/puppet'
     # REMIND: issue with windows backslashes
     @run_mode.var_dir.should == File.expand_path(vardir)
   end
 
   it "should have vardir ~/.puppet/var when run as non-root" do
     Puppet.features.stubs(:root?).returns(false)
-    @run_mode.expects(:expand_path).with("~/.puppet/var").returns("~/.puppet/var")
-    @run_mode.var_dir.should == "~/.puppet/var"
+    @run_mode.var_dir.should == File.expand_path("~/.puppet/var")
   end
 
   it "should have rundir depend on vardir" do
     @run_mode.run_dir.should == '$vardir/run'
   end
 
 
   it "should have logopts return a hash with $vardir/log and other metadata if runmode is master" do
     pending("runmode.logopts functionality is being moved")
     @run_mode.expects(:master?).returns true
     @run_mode.logopts.should == {
       :default => "$vardir/log",
       :mode    => 0750,
       :owner   => "service",
       :group   => "service",
       :desc    => "The Puppet log directory.",
     }
   end
 end