diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-6-analysis.R b/tests/testthat/test-6-analysis.R
index 79c547a43..d199735ae 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-6-analysis.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-6-analysis.R
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ test_with_dir("unparsable commands are handled correctly", {
   expect_error(deps_code(x))
 })
 
-test_with_dir("dot symbol is illegal", {
+test_with_dir("bad target names", {
   skip_on_cran() # CRAN gets whitelist tests only (check time limits).
   expect_equal(
     sort(deps_code("sqrt(x + y + .)")$name),
@@ -388,10 +388,10 @@ test_with_dir("dot symbol is illegal", {
   expect_false(exists(".", envir = e))
   config <- drake_config(plan)
   plan <- drake_plan(
-    . = 1,
+    .gitignore = 1,
     y = 2,
     a = sqrt(x + y),
-    b = subset(complete.cases(.))
+    b = subset(complete.cases(.gitignore))
   )
   expect_error(drake_config(plan), "cannot be target names")
 })
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-6-plans.R b/tests/testthat/test-6-plans.R
index 63d1942d7..7aa4649b7 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-6-plans.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-6-plans.R
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ test_with_dir("plans can start with bad symbols", {
     target = c("a'x'", "b'x'", "_a", "a^-.*"),
     command = 1)
   y <- drake_config(x)
-  out <- sort(c("a.x.", "b.x.", "X_a", "a...."))
+  out <- sort(c("a.x_", "b.x_", "X_a", "a..._"))
   expect_true(all(out %in% names(y$spec)))
 })
 
@@ -375,10 +375,10 @@ test_with_dir("spaces in target names are replaced only when appropriate", {
   expect_equal(
     sort(pl$target),
     sort(c(
-      "a_.b.....x..y.",
-      "a_.a..x.",
-      "drake_target_1_.b.....x..y.",
-      "drake_target_1_.a..x."
+      "a_.b.....x..y_",
+      "a_.a..x_",
+      "drake_target_1_.b.....x..y_",
+      "drake_target_1_.a..x_"
     ))
   )
 })
@@ -749,6 +749,8 @@ test_with_dir("convert_trailing_dot() (#1147)", {
 })
 
 test_with_dir("convert_trailing_dot() in plans (#1147)", {
+  n <- seq_len(2)
+  ids <- rlang::syms(as.character(n))
   plan <- drake_plan(
     numeric_ids = target(
       rnorm(n),