diff --git a/rai/node/testing.cpp b/rai/node/testing.cpp
index 93f43ede..ca298684 100644
--- a/rai/node/testing.cpp
+++ b/rai/node/testing.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #include <boost/property_tree/json_parser.hpp>
 #include <boost/property_tree/ptree.hpp>
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <rai/node/common.hpp>
 #include <rai/node/testing.hpp>
 
@@ -50,6 +51,14 @@ rai::system::~system ()
 	{
 		i->stop ();
 	}
+
+	// Clean up tmp directories created by the tests. Since it's sometimes useful to
+	// see log files after test failures, an environment variable is supported to
+	// retain the files.
+	if (std::getenv ("TEST_KEEP_TMPDIRS") == nullptr)
+	{
+		rai::remove_temporary_directories ();
+	}
 }
 
 std::shared_ptr<rai::wallet> rai::system::wallet (size_t index_a)
diff --git a/rai/node/utility.cpp b/rai/node/utility.cpp
index 7c38c90c..f35d7f14 100644
--- a/rai/node/utility.cpp
+++ b/rai/node/utility.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 
 #include <ed25519-donna/ed25519.h>
 
+static std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> all_unique_paths;
+
 boost::filesystem::path rai::working_path ()
 {
 	auto result (rai::app_path ());
@@ -27,9 +29,33 @@ boost::filesystem::path rai::working_path ()
 boost::filesystem::path rai::unique_path ()
 {
 	auto result (working_path () / boost::filesystem::unique_path ());
+	all_unique_paths.push_back (result);
 	return result;
 }
 
+std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> rai::remove_temporary_directories ()
+{
+	for (auto & path : all_unique_paths)
+	{
+		boost::system::error_code ec;
+		boost::filesystem::remove_all (path, ec);
+		if (ec)
+		{
+			std::cerr << "Could not remove temporary directory: " << ec.message () << std::endl;
+		}
+
+		// lmdb creates a -lock suffixed file for its MDB_NOSUBDIR databases
+		auto lockfile = path;
+		lockfile += "-lock";
+		boost::filesystem::remove (lockfile, ec);
+		if (ec)
+		{
+			std::cerr << "Could not remove temporary lock file: " << ec.message () << std::endl;
+		}
+	}
+	return all_unique_paths;
+}
+
 rai::mdb_env::mdb_env (bool & error_a, boost::filesystem::path const & path_a, int max_dbs)
 {
 	boost::system::error_code error;
diff --git a/rai/node/utility.hpp b/rai/node/utility.hpp
index d5fb7c87..a17aa632 100644
--- a/rai/node/utility.hpp
+++ b/rai/node/utility.hpp
@@ -24,8 +24,11 @@ using bufferstream = boost::iostreams::stream_buffer<boost::iostreams::basic_arr
 using vectorstream = boost::iostreams::stream_buffer<boost::iostreams::back_insert_device<std::vector<uint8_t>>>;
 // OS-specific way of finding a path to a home directory.
 boost::filesystem::path working_path ();
-// Get a unique path within the home directory, used for testing
+// Get a unique path within the home directory, used for testing.
+// Any directories created at this location will be removed when a test finishes.
 boost::filesystem::path unique_path ();
+// Remove all unique tmp directories created by the process. The list of unique paths are returned.
+std::vector<boost::filesystem::path> remove_temporary_directories ();
 // C++ stream are absolutely horrible so I need this helper function to do the most basic operation of creating a file if it doesn't exist or truncating it.
 void open_or_create (std::fstream &, std::string const &);
 // Reads a json object from the stream and if was changed, write the object back to the stream