diff --git a/test/tests/index.js b/test/tests/index.js
index a1f91b204..ff0fb6d35 100644
--- a/test/tests/index.js
+++ b/test/tests/index.js
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ describe("Index", function() {
 
   it("can add a conflict to the index", function() {
     var repo;
-    var repoPath = path.join(__dirname, "..", "repos", "index");
+    var repoPath = local("../repos/index");
     var ourBranchName = "ours";
     var theirBranchName = "theirs";
     var fileName = "testFile.txt";
@@ -329,6 +329,10 @@ describe("Index", function() {
           fileName
         );
       })
+      .then(function(index) {
+        assert.ok(index.hasConflicts());
+        return index.conflictGet(fileName);
+      })
       .then(function(indexEntries) {
         // Store all indexEntries for conflict
         ancestorIndexEntry = indexEntries.ancestor_out;
diff --git a/test/utils/index_setup.js b/test/utils/index_setup.js
index a55e95924..eafcd5b52 100644
--- a/test/utils/index_setup.js
+++ b/test/utils/index_setup.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-var assert = require("assert");
 var NodeGit = require("../../");
 var path = require("path");
 var promisify = require("promisify-node");
@@ -75,25 +74,18 @@ var IndexSetup = {
         return repository.createCommit(ourBranch.name(), ourSignature,
             ourSignature, "we made a commit", oid, [ourCommit]);
       })
-      .then(function(commitOid) {
-        var opts = {
-          checkoutStrategy: NodeGit.Checkout.STRATEGY.FORCE
-        };
-
-        return NodeGit.Checkout.head(repository, opts);
+      .then(function() {
+        return repository.checkoutBranch(
+          ourBranch,
+          new NodeGit.CheckoutOptions()
+        );
       })
       .then(function() {
         return repository.mergeBranches(ourBranchName, theirBranchName);
       })
-      .then(function(commit) {
-        assert.fail(commit, undefined,
-          "The index should have been thrown due to merge conflicts");
-      })
       .catch(function(index) {
-        assert.ok(index);
-        assert.ok(index.hasConflicts());
-
-        return index.conflictGet(fileName);
+        return NodeGit.Checkout.index(repository, index)
+          .then(function() { return index; });
       });
   }
 };