diff --git a/lib/chicanery/persistence.rb b/lib/chicanery/persistence.rb
index d2bdf03..67261ca 100644
--- a/lib/chicanery/persistence.rb
+++ b/lib/chicanery/persistence.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
+require 'tempfile'
 require 'yaml'
 
 module Chicanery
   module Persistence
+    TEMP_DIR = './tmp'
+
     def persist state
       File.open persist_state_to, 'w' do |file|
         file.puts state.to_yaml
@@ -15,7 +18,8 @@ def restore
 
     def persist_state_to path=nil
       @state = path if path
-      @state || 'state'
+      Dir.mkdir TEMP_DIR if not Dir.exist? TEMP_DIR
+      @state ||= Dir::Tmpname.make_tmpname "#{TEMP_DIR}/state", nil
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/spec/chicanery/collections_spec.rb b/spec/chicanery/collections_spec.rb
index d72c0bf..4d2e60b 100644
--- a/spec/chicanery/collections_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/chicanery/collections_spec.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require 'chicanery'
+
 describe Chicanery::Collections do
   include Chicanery::Collections
 
@@ -11,4 +13,4 @@
       send("#{entity}s").should == [:entity]
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end
diff --git a/spec/chicanery/persistence_spec.rb b/spec/chicanery/persistence_spec.rb
index 7b1d145..2bd0586 100644
--- a/spec/chicanery/persistence_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/chicanery/persistence_spec.rb
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 
   let(:file) { double 'file' }
   let(:state) { double 'state', to_yaml: :yaml }
+  let(:state_regex) { /.*\/state.*/ }
 
   describe '#persist' do
     it 'should write state to disk as yaml' do
-      File.should_receive(:open).with('state', 'w').and_yield file
+      File.should_receive(:open).with(state_regex, 'w').and_yield file
       file.should_receive(:puts).with :yaml
       persist state
     end
@@ -21,13 +22,13 @@
 
   describe '#restore' do
     it 'should return empty hash if state file does not exist' do
-      File.should_receive(:exist?).with('state').and_return false
+      File.should_receive(:exist?).with(state_regex).and_return false
       restore.should == {}
     end
 
     it 'should read yaml from disk' do
-      File.should_receive(:exist?).with('state').and_return true
-      YAML.should_receive(:load_file).with('state').and_return state
+      File.should_receive(:exist?).with(state_regex).and_return true
+      YAML.should_receive(:load_file).with(state_regex).and_return state
       restore.should == state
     end
 
@@ -38,4 +39,4 @@
       restore.should == state
     end
   end
-end
\ No newline at end of file
+end