diff --git a/lib/rspec-puppet/spec_helper.rb b/lib/rspec-puppet/spec_helper.rb
index 541391ecc..2ac5db142 100644
--- a/lib/rspec-puppet/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/lib/rspec-puppet/spec_helper.rb
@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 fixture_path = File.join(File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__)), 'fixtures')
 
 RSpec.configure do |c|
-  c.module_path     = File.join(fixture_path, 'modules')
-  c.manifest_dir    = File.join(fixture_path, 'manifests')
-  c.manifest        = File.join(fixture_path, 'manifests', 'site.pp')
-  c.environmentpath = File.join(Dir.pwd, 'spec')
+  c.module_path = File.join(__dir__, 'fixtures', 'modules')
+  c.manifest = File.join(fixture_path, 'manifests', 'site.pp')
+  c.environmentpath = __dir__
 end
diff --git a/spec/classes/server_facts_spec.rb b/spec/classes/server_facts_spec.rb
index 6b90a53f7..6304fafcd 100644
--- a/spec/classes/server_facts_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/classes/server_facts_spec.rb
@@ -15,11 +15,10 @@
     end
     let(:node) { 'test123.test.com' }
 
-    it { is_expected.to contain_class('server_facts') }
-    it { is_expected.to compile.with_all_deps }
-    it { is_expected.to contain_notify('servername-test123.test.com') }
-    it { is_expected.to contain_notify('serverip-192.168.1.10') }
-    it { is_expected.to contain_notify("serverversion-#{Puppet.version}") }
-    it { is_expected.to contain_notify('environment-rp_env') }
-  end
+  it { is_expected.to contain_class('server_facts') }
+  it { is_expected.to compile.with_all_deps }
+  it { is_expected.to contain_notify('servername-test123.test.com') }
+  it { is_expected.to contain_notify('serverip-192.168.1.10') }
+  it { is_expected.to contain_notify("serverversion-#{Puppet.version}") }
+  it { is_expected.to contain_notify('environment-rp_env') }
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/adapters_spec.rb b/spec/unit/adapters_spec.rb
index 5a8ba2b1b..15ee84463 100644
--- a/spec/unit/adapters_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/adapters_spec.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,25 @@ def context_double(options = {})
     end
   end
 
+  it 'sets Puppet[:strict_variables] to false by default' do
+    subject.setup_puppet(context_double)
+    # strict variables enabled by default in puppet 8.x +
+    setting = Puppet::Util::Package.versioncmp(Puppet.version, '8.0.0') >= 0
+    expect(Puppet[:strict_variables]).to be(setting)
+  end
+
+  it 'reads the :strict_variables setting' do
+    context = context_double strict_variables: true
+    subject.setup_puppet(context)
+    expect(Puppet[:strict_variables]).to be(true)
+  end
+
+  it 'overrides the environmentpath set by Puppet::Test::TestHelper' do
+    context = context_double environmentpath: '/path/to/my/environments'
+    subject.setup_puppet(context)
+    expect(Puppet[:environmentpath]).to match(%r{(C:)?/path/to/my/environments})
+  end
+
   describe '#set_setting' do
     describe 'with a context specific setting' do
       it 'sets the Puppet setting based on the example group setting' do
diff --git a/spec/unit/matchers/compile_spec.rb b/spec/unit/matchers/compile_spec.rb
index 4b1e9c84b..335520c42 100644
--- a/spec/unit/matchers/compile_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/matchers/compile_spec.rb
@@ -172,10 +172,10 @@
         }
       end
 
-      context 'when expecting the failure' do
-        let(:expected_error) do
-          "Evaluation Error: Error while evaluating a Function Call, #{error_detail} on node rspec::puppet::manifestmatchers::compile"
-        end
+    context 'when expecting the failure' do
+      let(:expected_error) do
+        'Evaluation Error: Error while evaluating a Function Call, failure (line: 52, column: 1) on node rspec::puppet::manifestmatchers::compile'
+      end
 
         before { subject.and_raise_error(expected_error) }