diff --git a/py/test/plugin/pytest_resultdb.py b/py/test/plugin/pytest_resultdb.py
index 2b1be0123..9cbbaa479 100644
--- a/py/test/plugin/pytest_resultdb.py
+++ b/py/test/plugin/pytest_resultdb.py
@@ -276,6 +276,9 @@ class BaseResultArchiveTests(object):
 class TestJSONResultArchive(BaseResultArchiveTests):
     cls = JSONResultArchive
 
+    def setup_method(self, method):
+        py.test.importorskip("simplejson")
+
     
 class TestSQLiteResultArchive(BaseResultArchiveTests):
     cls = SQLiteResultArchive
diff --git a/py/test/testing/test_config.py b/py/test/testing/test_config.py
index 25f410d99..3d9076446 100644
--- a/py/test/testing/test_config.py
+++ b/py/test/testing/test_config.py
@@ -55,13 +55,9 @@ class TestConfigCmdlineParsing:
                        type="int", dest="gdest", help="g value."), 
                 )
         """)
-        old = testdir.chdir()
-        try: 
-            py.test.raises(ValueError, """
-                py.test.config._reparse(['-g', '17'])
-            """)
-        finally: 
-            old.chdir() 
+        py.test.raises(ValueError, """
+            py.test.config._reparse(['-g', '17'])
+        """)
 
     def test_parsing_again_fails(self, tmpdir):
         config = py.test.config._reparse([tmpdir])