diff --git a/fileutil/flock_test.go b/fileutil/flock_test.go
index f9cbbcf2b..d30d20b21 100644
--- a/fileutil/flock_test.go
+++ b/fileutil/flock_test.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
-	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/util/testutil"
+	"github.com/prometheus/tsdb/testutil"
 )
 
 func TestLocking(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/testutil/directory.go b/testutil/directory.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d3c9c926f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testutil/directory.go
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+// Copyright 2013 The Prometheus Authors
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package testutil
+
+import (
+	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
+)
+
+const (
+	// The base directory used for test emissions, which instructs the operating
+	// system to use the default temporary directory as the base or TMPDIR
+	// environment variable.
+	defaultDirectory = ""
+
+	// NilCloser is a no-op Closer.
+	NilCloser = nilCloser(true)
+
+	// The number of times that a TemporaryDirectory will retry its removal
+	temporaryDirectoryRemoveRetries = 2
+)
+
+type (
+	// Closer is the interface that wraps the Close method.
+	Closer interface {
+		// Close reaps the underlying directory and its children. The directory
+		// could be deleted by its users already.
+		Close()
+	}
+
+	nilCloser bool
+
+	// TemporaryDirectory models a closeable path for transient POSIX disk
+	// activities.
+	TemporaryDirectory interface {
+		Closer
+
+		// Path returns the underlying path for access.
+		Path() string
+	}
+
+	// temporaryDirectory is kept as a private type due to private fields and
+	// their interactions.
+	temporaryDirectory struct {
+		path   string
+		tester T
+	}
+
+	callbackCloser struct {
+		fn func()
+	}
+
+	// T implements the needed methods of testing.TB so that we do not need
+	// to actually import testing (which has the side effect of adding all
+	// the test flags, which we do not want in non-test binaries even if
+	// they make use of these utilities for some reason).
+	T interface {
+		Fatal(args ...interface{})
+		Fatalf(format string, args ...interface{})
+	}
+)
+
+func (c nilCloser) Close() {
+}
+
+func (c callbackCloser) Close() {
+	c.fn()
+}
+
+// NewCallbackCloser returns a Closer that calls the provided function upon
+// closing.
+func NewCallbackCloser(fn func()) Closer {
+	return &callbackCloser{
+		fn: fn,
+	}
+}
+
+func (t temporaryDirectory) Close() {
+	retries := temporaryDirectoryRemoveRetries
+	err := os.RemoveAll(t.path)
+	for err != nil && retries > 0 {
+		switch {
+		case os.IsNotExist(err):
+			err = nil
+		default:
+			retries--
+			err = os.RemoveAll(t.path)
+		}
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		t.tester.Fatal(err)
+	}
+}
+
+func (t temporaryDirectory) Path() string {
+	return t.path
+}
+
+// NewTemporaryDirectory creates a new temporary directory for transient POSIX
+// activities.
+func NewTemporaryDirectory(name string, t T) (handler TemporaryDirectory) {
+	var (
+		directory string
+		err       error
+	)
+
+	directory, err = ioutil.TempDir(defaultDirectory, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	handler = temporaryDirectory{
+		path:   directory,
+		tester: t,
+	}
+
+	return
+}