diff --git a/tests/file b/tests/file
index 92022671..c23da453 100755
--- a/tests/file
+++ b/tests/file
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ function test_file
 	test_equal "./src/file.run $1" "$2"
 }
 
+function test_chmod
+{
+	touch $2
+	chmod $1 $2
+}
+
 
 
 ###
@@ -50,8 +56,7 @@ rm $DATA_DIR/*
 # Test opening for read
 test_file "-D -o R file.txt" "ERROR: File does not exist"
 
-touch $DATA_DIR/file.txt
-chmod -r $DATA_DIR/file.txt
+test_chmod -r $DATA_DIR/file.txt
 test_file "-D -o R file.txt" "ERROR: File could not be opened for reading"
 rm -r $DATA_DIR
 
@@ -63,8 +68,7 @@ test_file "-D -o W file.txt" "ERROR: Could not make directory"
 
 rm $DATA_DIR
 mkdir -p $DATA_DIR
-touch $DATA_DIR/file.txt
-chmod -w $DATA_DIR/file.txt
+test_chmod -w $DATA_DIR/file.txt
 test_file "-D -o W file.txt" "ERROR: Could not open file for writing"
 rm -rf $DATA_DIR