diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index eba38ec3..536bf0fd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
             - name: run container with tests
               working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
               run: |
-                docker run --security-opt seccomp:unconfined --rm -e DIST -v$(pwd):/build -w/build ${DIST}/tdnf-build ./ci/docker-entrypoint.sh
+                docker run --privileged --security-opt seccomp:unconfined --rm -e DIST -v$(pwd):/build -w/build ${DIST}/tdnf-build ./ci/docker-entrypoint.sh
     fedora:
         env:
             DIST: fedora
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ jobs:
             - name: run container with tests
               working-directory: ${{ github.workspace }}
               run: |
-                docker run --security-opt seccomp:unconfined --rm -e DIST -v$(pwd):/build -w/build ${DIST}/tdnf-build ./ci/docker-entrypoint.sh
+                docker run --privileged --security-opt seccomp:unconfined --rm -e DIST -v$(pwd):/build -w/build ${DIST}/tdnf-build ./ci/docker-entrypoint.sh
 
diff --git a/pytests/conftest.py b/pytests/conftest.py
index e57ddb8c..4afe158f 100644
--- a/pytests/conftest.py
+++ b/pytests/conftest.py
@@ -193,6 +193,14 @@ def assert_file_exists(self, file_path):
             raise FileNotFoundError(errno.ENOENT, os.strerror(errno.ENOENT),
                                     file_path)
 
+    def clear_directory(self, dir_path):
+        for item in os.listdir(dir_path):
+            item_path = os.path.join(dir_path, item)
+            if os.path.isfile(item_path) or os.path.islink(item_path):
+                os.unlink(item_path)
+            elif os.path.isdir(item_path):
+                shutil.rmtree(item_path)
+
     def check_package(self, package, version=None):
         ''' Check if a package exists '''
         ret = self.run(["tdnf", "--disablerepo=*", "list", "-j", "--installed", package])
diff --git a/pytests/mount-small-cache.in b/pytests/mount-small-cache.in
index f0739cb9..a4a33bd9 100755
--- a/pytests/mount-small-cache.in
+++ b/pytests/mount-small-cache.in
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#!/bin/bash
 
 ## file:    mount-small-cache.sh
 ## brief:   mounts an intentionally small directory for out-of-diskspace tests.
-## author:  Preston Narchetti <pnarchetti@vmware.com>
 
 if [ ${EUID} -ne 0 ]; then
   echo "Script must be run as root." 1>&2
@@ -13,29 +12,34 @@ fi
 small_cache_path="@CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR@/small_cache/"
 quota_size="1M"
 
-## used to check return code for each command.
-function check_err {
-  rc=$?
+check_err() {
+  local rc=$?
   if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
-      echo $1
-      exit $rc
+    echo "$1" 1>&2
+    exit $rc
   fi
 }
 
-echo "Creating mount point."
-rm -rf ./virtual_disks
-mkdir -p ./virtual_disks
-rm -rf ${small_cache_path}
-mkdir -p ${small_cache_path}
-check_err "Failed to mkdir ${small_cache_path}."
-
-echo "Creating tmpfs."
-touch ./virtual_disks/fs.ext4
-dd if=/dev/zero of=./virtual_disks/fs.ext4 bs=${quota_size} count=1
-check_err "Failed to make exf4 tmpfs: dd"
-mkfs.ext4 ./virtual_disks/fs.ext4
-check_err "Failed to make exf4 tmpfs: mkfs.ext4"
-
-echo "Mounting tmpfs at ${small_cache_path}."
-mount -o loop,rw,usrquota,grpquota ./virtual_disks/fs.ext4 ${small_cache_path}
-check_err "Failed to mount exf4 tmpfs."
+vdisk="virtual_disks"
+ext4_fn="${vdisk}/fs.ext4"
+
+echo "Creating mount point ..."
+if mountpoint ${small_cache_path} &> /dev/null; then
+  umount ${small_cache_path}
+  check_err "ERROR: umount ${small_cache_path}"
+  sync
+fi
+rm -rf ${vdisk} ${small_cache_path}
+mkdir -p ${vdisk} ${small_cache_path}
+check_err "ERROR: failed to mkdir ${vdisk} ${small_cache_path}"
+
+echo "Creating tmpfs ..."
+dd if=/dev/zero of=${ext4_fn} bs=${quota_size} count=1
+check_err "ERROR: dd failed"
+
+mkfs.ext4 ${ext4_fn}
+check_err "ERROR: mkfs.ext4 failed"
+
+echo "Mounting tmpfs at ${small_cache_path} ..."
+mount -o loop,rw,usrquota,grpquota ${ext4_fn} ${small_cache_path}
+check_err "ERROR: failed to mount exf4 tmpfs"
diff --git a/pytests/tests/test_cache.py b/pytests/tests/test_cache.py
index 6545bed3..4755d36a 100644
--- a/pytests/tests/test_cache.py
+++ b/pytests/tests/test_cache.py
@@ -52,10 +52,6 @@ def switch_cache_path(utils, new_path):
     utils.edit_config({'cachedir': new_path})
 
 
-def clean_small_cache(utils):
-    utils.run(['rm', '-rf', utils.config['small_cache_path']])
-
-
 def try_mount_small_cache():
     import subprocess
     mount_script = subprocess.Popen(
@@ -218,15 +214,19 @@ def test_download_vs_cache_size_multiple_packages(utils):
     assert utils.floats_approx_equal(down_bytes, cached_rpm_bytes)
 
 
-@pytest.mark.skipif(try_mount_small_cache() != 0, reason="Failed to mount small cache directory.")
 def test_cache_directory_out_of_disk_space(utils):
+    if try_mount_small_cache():
+        print("Failed to mount small cache directory")
+        return
+
     small_cache_path = utils.config['small_cache_path']
     orig_cache_path = utils.tdnf_config.get('main', 'cachedir')
     switch_cache_path(utils, small_cache_path)
     enable_cache(utils)
-    clean_small_cache(utils)
+    # can't rm the dir because it's a mount point
+    utils.clear_directory(small_cache_path)
 
-    run_args = ['tdnf', 'install', '-y', '--nogpgcheck']
+    run_args = 'tdnf install -y --nogpgcheck'.split()
     pkg_list = [utils.config["toolarge_pkgname"]]
     for pkgname in pkg_list:
         utils.erase_package(pkgname)
@@ -235,7 +235,8 @@ def test_cache_directory_out_of_disk_space(utils):
 
     switch_cache_path(utils, orig_cache_path)
     clean_cache(utils)
-    clean_small_cache(utils)
+    utils.clear_directory(small_cache_path)
+    utils.run(f"umount {small_cache_path}".split())
     assert ret['retval'] == 1036