diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index e3b8e85..7fc0423 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
     "structcheck",
     "stylecheck",
     "thelper",
+    "toplevel",
     "tparallel",
     "typecheck",
     "unconvert",
diff --git a/src/app/command/bootstrap_test.go b/src/app/command/bootstrap_test.go
index b0d5f6e..360c5bb 100644
--- a/src/app/command/bootstrap_test.go
+++ b/src/app/command/bootstrap_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package command_test
 
 import (
-	"path/filepath"
-
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	"github.com/snivilised/cobrass/src/assistant/configuration"
@@ -55,7 +53,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Bootstrap", Ordered, func() {
 	)
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
-		repo = helpers.Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+		repo = helpers.Repo("")
 		l10nPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/l10n")
 		configPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/configuration")
 	})
diff --git a/src/app/command/magick-cmd_test.go b/src/app/command/magick-cmd_test.go
index 3b06d8e..4f1abe6 100644
--- a/src/app/command/magick-cmd_test.go
+++ b/src/app/command/magick-cmd_test.go
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 package command_test
 
 import (
-	"path/filepath"
-
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
 	"go.uber.org/mock/gomock"
@@ -33,7 +31,7 @@ var _ = Describe("MagickCmd", Ordered, func() {
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
 		vfs = storage.UseNativeFS()
-		repo = helpers.Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+		repo = helpers.Repo("")
 		l10nPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/l10n")
 		configPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/configuration")
 	})
diff --git a/src/app/command/root-cmd_test.go b/src/app/command/root-cmd_test.go
index 9996539..d0b3edc 100644
--- a/src/app/command/root-cmd_test.go
+++ b/src/app/command/root-cmd_test.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package command_test
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"path/filepath"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ var _ = Describe("RootCmd", Ordered, func() {
 	)
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
-		repo = helpers.Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+		repo = helpers.Repo("")
 		l10nPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/l10n")
 		configPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/configuration")
 	})
diff --git a/src/app/command/shrink-cmd_test.go b/src/app/command/shrink-cmd_test.go
index 7396e39..218f7c9 100644
--- a/src/app/command/shrink-cmd_test.go
+++ b/src/app/command/shrink-cmd_test.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package command_test
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"path/filepath"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
@@ -117,7 +116,7 @@ var _ = Describe("ShrinkCmd", Ordered, func() {
 	)
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
-		repo = helpers.Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+		repo = helpers.Repo("")
 		l10nPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/l10n")
 		configPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/configuration")
 	})
diff --git a/src/app/proxy/config_test.go b/src/app/proxy/config_test.go
index 45e1a8c..b2b27c4 100644
--- a/src/app/proxy/config_test.go
+++ b/src/app/proxy/config_test.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func expectValidShrinkCmdInvocation(vfs storage.VirtualFS, entry *configTE,
 		"--profile", entry.profile,
 	}
 
-	repo := helpers.Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+	repo := helpers.Repo("")
 	configPath := filepath.Join(repo, "test", "data", "configuration")
 	tester := helpers.CommandTester{
 		Args: append(options, entry.args...),
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Config", Ordered, func() {
 	)
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
-		repo = helpers.Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+		repo = helpers.Repo("")
 		l10nPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/l10n")
 		configPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/configuration")
 	})
diff --git a/src/app/proxy/controller-sampler_test.go b/src/app/proxy/controller-sampler_test.go
index 9158608..1849bc2 100644
--- a/src/app/proxy/controller-sampler_test.go
+++ b/src/app/proxy/controller-sampler_test.go
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ var _ = Describe("SamplerController", Ordered, func() {
 	)
 
 	BeforeAll(func() {
-		repo = helpers.Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+		repo = helpers.Repo("")
 		l10nPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/l10n")
 		configPath = helpers.Path(repo, "test/data/configuration")
 	})
diff --git a/src/internal/helpers/directory-tree-builder.go b/src/internal/helpers/directory-tree-builder.go
index ef8b54b..b0a3a0c 100644
--- a/src/internal/helpers/directory-tree-builder.go
+++ b/src/internal/helpers/directory-tree-builder.go
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ type File struct {
 const doWrite = true
 
 func Scientist(vfs storage.VirtualFS, index string, silent bool) string {
-	repo := Repo(filepath.Join("..", "..", ".."))
+	repo := Repo("")
 	research := filepath.Join(repo, "test", "data", "research")
 	scientist := filepath.Join(research, "scientist")
 	indexPath := filepath.Join(research, index)
diff --git a/src/internal/helpers/test-utils.go b/src/internal/helpers/test-utils.go
index 530ef46..25856d1 100644
--- a/src/internal/helpers/test-utils.go
+++ b/src/internal/helpers/test-utils.go
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ package helpers
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
@@ -71,8 +71,17 @@ func Root() string {
 }
 
 func Repo(relative string) string {
-	_, filename, _, _ := runtime.Caller(0) //nolint:dogsled // use of 3 _ is out of our control
-	return Path(filepath.Dir(filename), relative)
+	cmd := exec.Command("git", "rev-parse", "--show-toplevel")
+	if bytes, err := cmd.Output(); err != nil {
+		panic(errors.Wrap(err, "couldn't get repo root"))
+	} else {
+		segments := strings.Split(relative, "/")
+		output := strings.TrimSuffix(string(bytes), "\n")
+		path := []string{output}
+		path = append(path, segments...)
+
+		return filepath.Join(path...)
+	}
 }
 
 func Log() string {