diff --git a/tests/helpers/mod.rs b/tests/helpers/mod.rs
index b441f85254..c7a725ed83 100644
--- a/tests/helpers/mod.rs
+++ b/tests/helpers/mod.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ macro_rules! nu {
             $cwd, $commands
         );
 
-        let process = match Command::new(helpers::executable_path())
+        let mut process = match Command::new(helpers::executable_path())
             .stdin(Stdio::piped())
             .stdout(Stdio::piped())
             .spawn()
@@ -30,22 +30,18 @@ macro_rules! nu {
             Err(why) => panic!("Can't run test {}", why.description()),
         };
 
-        match process.stdin.unwrap().write_all(commands.as_bytes()) {
-            Err(why) => panic!("couldn't write to wc stdin: {}", why.description()),
-            Ok(_) => {}
-        }
+        let stdin = process.stdin.as_mut().expect("couldn't open stdin");
+        stdin
+            .write_all(commands.as_bytes())
+            .expect("couldn't write to stdin");
 
-        let mut _s = String::new();
+        let output = process
+            .wait_with_output()
+            .expect("couldn't read from stdout");
 
-        match process.stdout.unwrap().read_to_string(&mut _s) {
-            Err(why) => panic!("couldn't read stdout: {}", why.description()),
-            Ok(_) => {
-                let _s = _s.replace("\r\n", "\n");
-            }
-        }
-
-        let _s = _s.replace("\r\n", "");
-        let $out = _s.replace("\n", "");
+        let $out = String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout);
+        let $out = $out.replace("\r\n", "");
+        let $out = $out.replace("\n", "");
     };
 }
 
@@ -189,6 +185,10 @@ pub fn file_exists_at(full_path: &str) -> bool {
     PathBuf::from(full_path).exists()
 }
 
+pub fn dir_exists_at(full_path: &str) -> bool {
+    PathBuf::from(full_path).exists()
+}
+
 pub fn delete_directory_at(full_path: &str) {
     std::fs::remove_dir_all(PathBuf::from(full_path)).expect("can not remove directory");
 }