diff --git a/selfdrive/car/tests/big_cars_test.sh b/selfdrive/car/tests/big_cars_test.sh
index 6142fe8411..af45c9cd14 100755
--- a/selfdrive/car/tests/big_cars_test.sh
+++ b/selfdrive/car/tests/big_cars_test.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(dirname "$0")
+BASEDIR=$(realpath "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../../")
+cd $BASEDIR
+
 MAX_EXAMPLES=300
 INTERNAL_SEG_CNT=300
 FILEREADER_CACHE=1
diff --git a/selfdrive/test/scons_build_test.sh b/selfdrive/test/scons_build_test.sh
index 7614017c55..a3b33f797a 100755
--- a/selfdrive/test/scons_build_test.sh
+++ b/selfdrive/test/scons_build_test.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+SCRIPT_DIR=$(dirname "$0")
+BASEDIR=$(realpath "$SCRIPT_DIR/../../")
+cd $BASEDIR
+
 # tests that our build system's dependencies are configured properly, 
 # needs a machine with lots of cores
 scons --clean