diff --git a/tests/expansion.in b/tests/expansion.in
index 34662d487..aab2b002e 100644
--- a/tests/expansion.in
+++ b/tests/expansion.in
@@ -82,7 +82,13 @@ echo ()[1]
 echo ()[d]
 
 # Test tilde expansion
-set tmpdir (mktemp -d)
+# On OS X, we must pass an argument to mktemp,
+# and /tmp is symlinked to /private/tmp
+# $PWD is our best bet for resolving it
+set -l saved $PWD
+cd (mktemp -d /tmp/fish_tilde_XXXXXX)
+set tmpdir $PWD
+cd $saved
 mkdir $tmpdir/realhome
 ln -s $tmpdir/realhome $tmpdir/linkhome
 set expandedtilde (env HOME=$tmpdir/linkhome ../fish -c 'echo ~')