diff --git a/library/yaml/dump_spec.rb b/library/yaml/dump_spec.rb
index 3107a8f51d..ea94b2f856 100644
--- a/library/yaml/dump_spec.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/dump_spec.rb
@@ -1,17 +1,21 @@
 require_relative '../../spec_helper'
-require_relative 'fixtures/common'
 
-# TODO: WTF is this using a global?
+require 'yaml'
+
 describe "YAML.dump" do
+  before :each do
+    @test_file = tmp("yaml_test_file")
+  end
+
   after :each do
-    rm_r $test_file
+    rm_r @test_file
   end
 
   it "converts an object to YAML and write result to io when io provided" do
-    File.open($test_file, 'w' ) do |io|
+    File.open(@test_file, 'w' ) do |io|
       YAML.dump( ['badger', 'elephant', 'tiger'], io )
     end
-    YAML.load_file($test_file).should == ['badger', 'elephant', 'tiger']
+    YAML.load_file(@test_file).should == ['badger', 'elephant', 'tiger']
   end
 
   it "returns a string containing dumped YAML when no io provided" do
diff --git a/library/yaml/dump_stream_spec.rb b/library/yaml/dump_stream_spec.rb
index 9d30fef819..f0578fa800 100644
--- a/library/yaml/dump_stream_spec.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/dump_stream_spec.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require_relative '../../spec_helper'
-require_relative 'fixtures/common'
+
+require 'yaml'
 
 describe "YAML.dump_stream" do
   it "returns a YAML stream containing the objects passed" do
diff --git a/library/yaml/fixtures/common.rb b/library/yaml/fixtures/common.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 895213b844..0000000000
--- a/library/yaml/fixtures/common.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-require 'yaml'
-
-$test_file = tmp("yaml_test_file")
-$test_parse_file = __dir__ + "/test_yaml.yml"
diff --git a/library/yaml/load_file_spec.rb b/library/yaml/load_file_spec.rb
index 2363c08120..4941d0485b 100644
--- a/library/yaml/load_file_spec.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/load_file_spec.rb
@@ -1,13 +1,18 @@
 require_relative '../../spec_helper'
-require_relative 'fixtures/common'
+
+require 'yaml'
 
 describe "YAML.load_file" do
+  before :each do
+    @test_file = tmp("yaml_test_file")
+  end
+
   after :each do
-    rm_r $test_file
+    rm_r @test_file
   end
 
   it "returns a hash" do
-    File.open($test_file,'w' ){|io| YAML.dump( {"bar"=>2, "car"=>1}, io ) }
-    YAML.load_file($test_file).should == {"bar"=>2, "car"=>1}
+    File.open(@test_file,'w' ){|io| YAML.dump( {"bar"=>2, "car"=>1}, io ) }
+    YAML.load_file(@test_file).should == {"bar"=>2, "car"=>1}
   end
 end
diff --git a/library/yaml/load_stream_spec.rb b/library/yaml/load_stream_spec.rb
index 689653c8cd..31bc862f5e 100644
--- a/library/yaml/load_stream_spec.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/load_stream_spec.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 require_relative '../../spec_helper'
-require_relative 'fixtures/common'
 require_relative 'fixtures/strings'
 require_relative 'shared/each_document'
 
+require 'yaml'
+
 describe "YAML.load_stream" do
   it_behaves_like :yaml_each_document, :load_stream
 end
diff --git a/library/yaml/parse_file_spec.rb b/library/yaml/parse_file_spec.rb
index 8c59a2d7ef..7bffcdc62f 100644
--- a/library/yaml/parse_file_spec.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/parse_file_spec.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 require_relative '../../spec_helper'
-require_relative 'fixtures/common'
 
-describe "YAML#parse_file" do
+require 'yaml'
+
+describe "YAML.parse_file" do
   it "returns a YAML::Syck::Map object after parsing a YAML file" do
-    YAML.parse_file($test_parse_file).should be_kind_of(Psych::Nodes::Document)
+    test_parse_file = fixture __FILE__, "test_yaml.yml"
+    YAML.parse_file(test_parse_file).should be_kind_of(Psych::Nodes::Document)
   end
 end
diff --git a/library/yaml/parse_spec.rb b/library/yaml/parse_spec.rb
index d5dbfdcee2..37e2b7fa0a 100644
--- a/library/yaml/parse_spec.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/parse_spec.rb
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 require_relative '../../spec_helper'
-require_relative 'fixtures/common'
 
-describe "YAML#parse with an empty string" do
+require 'yaml'
+
+describe "YAML.parse with an empty string" do
   it "returns false" do
     YAML.parse('').should be_false
   end
 end
 
-describe "YAML#parse" do
+describe "YAML.parse" do
   before :each do
     @string_yaml = "foo".to_yaml
   end
diff --git a/library/yaml/shared/each_document.rb b/library/yaml/shared/each_document.rb
index 999123dc2a..7d32c6001f 100644
--- a/library/yaml/shared/each_document.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/shared/each_document.rb
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
   end
 
   it "works on files" do
-    File.open($test_parse_file, "r") do |file|
+    test_parse_file = fixture __FILE__, "test_yaml.yml"
+    File.open(test_parse_file, "r") do |file|
       YAML.send(@method, file) do |doc|
         doc.should == {"project"=>{"name"=>"RubySpec"}}
       end
diff --git a/library/yaml/shared/load.rb b/library/yaml/shared/load.rb
index 185a5a60cd..1ebe08be2c 100644
--- a/library/yaml/shared/load.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/shared/load.rb
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
-require_relative '../fixtures/common'
 require_relative '../fixtures/strings'
 
+require 'yaml'
+
 describe :yaml_load_safe, shared: true do
   it "returns a document from current io stream when io provided" do
-    File.open($test_file, 'w') do |io|
+    @test_file = tmp("yaml_test_file")
+    File.open(@test_file, 'w') do |io|
       YAML.dump( ['badger', 'elephant', 'tiger'], io )
     end
-    File.open($test_file) { |yf| YAML.send(@method,  yf ) }.should == ['badger', 'elephant', 'tiger']
+    File.open(@test_file) { |yf| YAML.send(@method,  yf ) }.should == ['badger', 'elephant', 'tiger']
   ensure
-    rm_r $test_file
+    rm_r @test_file
   end
 
   it "loads strings" do
diff --git a/library/yaml/to_yaml_spec.rb b/library/yaml/to_yaml_spec.rb
index 8e80b02cb4..d70ae76d68 100644
--- a/library/yaml/to_yaml_spec.rb
+++ b/library/yaml/to_yaml_spec.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 require_relative '../../spec_helper'
-require_relative 'fixtures/common'
 require_relative 'fixtures/example_class'
 
+require 'yaml'
+
 describe "Object#to_yaml" do
 
   it "returns the YAML representation of an Array object" do