diff --git a/check.sh b/check.sh
index bb72f15..67f703e 100755
--- a/check.sh
+++ b/check.sh
@@ -85,10 +85,10 @@ if [[ ! -d $CHECK_PATH ]]; then
 	CHECK_PATH="."
 fi
 
-if [[ ! -f $FORMAT_FILEPATH ]]; then
+if [[ -n $FORMAT_FILEPATH ]] && [[ ! -f $FORMAT_FILEPATH ]]; then
 	echo "Not a file in the workspace, fallback to search for .clang_format." >&2
 	FORMAT_FILEPATH=""
-else
+elif [[ -n $FORMAT_FILEPATH ]]; then
 	# if being used, add the colon for seperating the syntax file:<file_name>
 	FORMAT_FILEPATH=":$FORMAT_FILEPATH"
 fi
diff --git a/test/.clang-format b/test/format_files/clang_format_example
similarity index 100%
rename from test/.clang-format
rename to test/format_files/clang_format_example
diff --git a/test/test.sh b/test/test.sh
index ac8b7f8..057f66c 100755
--- a/test/test.sh
+++ b/test/test.sh
@@ -3,13 +3,14 @@
 FALLBACK_STYLE="llvm"
 EXCLUDE_REGEX="capital"
 CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION="$1"
+CLANG_FORMAT_FILEPATH="$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/format_files/clang_format_example"
 
 ###############################################################################
 #                      Default C/C++/Protobuf/CUDA regex                      #
 ###############################################################################
 
 # should succeed
-"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_pass" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX"
+"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_pass" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX" "" "$CLANG_FORMAT_FILEPATH"
 docker_status="$?"
 if [[ $docker_status != "0" ]]; then
 	echo "files that should succeed have failed!"
@@ -17,7 +18,7 @@ if [[ $docker_status != "0" ]]; then
 fi
 
 # should fail
-"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_fail" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX"
+"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_fail" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX" "" "$CLANG_FORMAT_FILEPATH"
 docker_status="$?"
 if [[ $docker_status == "0" ]]; then
 	echo "files that should fail have succeeded!"
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ fi
 
 # load test on known_pass/addition.c copies
 
-"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/load_test" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX"
+"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/load_test" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX" "" "$CLANG_FORMAT_FILEPATH"
 docker_status="$?"
 if [[ $docker_status != "0" ]]; then
 	echo "files that should succeed have failed in the loadtest!"
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ fi
 INCLUDE_REGEX='^.*\.(c|C)'
 
 # should succeed
-"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_pass" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX" "$INCLUDE_REGEX"
+"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_pass" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX" "$INCLUDE_REGEX" "$CLANG_FORMAT_FILEPATH"
 docker_status="$?"
 if [[ $docker_status != "0" ]]; then
 	echo "files that should succeed have failed!"
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ if [[ $docker_status != "0" ]]; then
 fi
 
 # should fail
-"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_fail" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX" "$INCLUDE_REGEX"
+"$GITHUB_WORKSPACE"/check.sh "$CLANG_FORMAT_VERSION" "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE/test/known_fail" "$FALLBACK_STYLE" "$EXCLUDE_REGEX" "$INCLUDE_REGEX" "$CLANG_FORMAT_FILEPATH"
 docker_status="$?"
 if [[ $docker_status == "0" ]]; then
 	echo "files that should fail have succeeded!"