diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 4a5c46c3..33f27e2d 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# Load libraries here to simulate how they live together in a real puppet run (for provider unit tests)
+$LOAD_PATH.push(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'modules', 'inifile', 'lib'))
+$LOAD_PATH.push(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'fixtures', 'modules', 'openstacklib', 'lib'))
 require 'puppetlabs_spec_helper/module_spec_helper'
 require 'shared_examples'
 require 'puppet-openstack_spec_helper/facts'
diff --git a/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_paste_ini/ini_setting_spec.rb b/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_paste_ini/ini_setting_spec.rb
index bdb85c89..5f7e1701 100644
--- a/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_paste_ini/ini_setting_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_paste_ini/ini_setting_spec.rb
@@ -17,28 +17,6 @@
 #
 # Unit tests for barbican_api_paste_ini provider class
 #
-$LOAD_PATH.push(
-  File.join(
-    File.dirname(__FILE__),
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    'fixtures',
-    'modules',
-    'inifile',
-    'lib')
-)
-$LOAD_PATH.push(
-  File.join(
-    File.dirname(__FILE__),
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    'fixtures',
-    'modules',
-    'openstacklib',
-    'lib')
-)
 require 'spec_helper'
 provider_class = Puppet::Type.type(:barbican_api_paste_ini).provider(:ini_setting)
 describe provider_class do
diff --git a/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_uwsgi_config/ini_setting_spec.rb b/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_uwsgi_config/ini_setting_spec.rb
index f1db0217..cb70daa4 100644
--- a/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_uwsgi_config/ini_setting_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/provider/barbican_api_uwsgi_config/ini_setting_spec.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,3 @@
-#
-# these tests are a little concerning b/c they are hacking around the
-# modulepath, so these tests will not catch issues that may eventually arise
-# related to loading these plugins.
-# I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to programatcally set the modulepath
-$LOAD_PATH.push(
-  File.join(
-    File.dirname(__FILE__),
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    'fixtures',
-    'modules',
-    'inifile',
-    'lib')
-)
 require 'spec_helper'
 provider_class = Puppet::Type.type(:barbican_api_uwsgi_config).provider(:ini_setting)
 describe provider_class do
diff --git a/spec/unit/provider/barbican_config/openstackconfig_spec.rb b/spec/unit/provider/barbican_config/openstackconfig_spec.rb
index cb621226..7e596e44 100644
--- a/spec/unit/provider/barbican_config/openstackconfig_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/provider/barbican_config/openstackconfig_spec.rb
@@ -21,28 +21,6 @@
 # modulepath, so these tests will not catch issues that may eventually arise
 # related to loading these plugins.
 # I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to programatcally set the modulepath
-$LOAD_PATH.push(
-  File.join(
-    File.dirname(__FILE__),
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    'fixtures',
-    'modules',
-    'inifile',
-    'lib')
-)
-$LOAD_PATH.push(
-  File.join(
-    File.dirname(__FILE__),
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    '..',
-    'fixtures',
-    'modules',
-    'openstacklib',
-    'lib')
-)
 require 'spec_helper'
 provider_class = Puppet::Type.type(:barbican_config).provider(:openstackconfig)
 describe provider_class do