diff --git a/backend/remote-state/etcdv3/backend_test.go b/backend/remote-state/etcdv3/backend_test.go
index 1199dc978..b37f8e3e5 100644
--- a/backend/remote-state/etcdv3/backend_test.go
+++ b/backend/remote-state/etcdv3/backend_test.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -45,6 +46,9 @@ func prepareEtcdv3(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Log("etcd server tests require setting TF_ACC or TF_ETCDV3_TEST")
 		t.Skip()
 	}
+	if reflect.DeepEqual(etcdv3Endpoints, []string{""}) {
+		t.Fatal("etcd server tests require setting TF_ETCDV3_ENDPOINTS")
+	}
 	cleanupEtcdv3(t)
 }
 
diff --git a/backend/remote-state/manta/backend.go b/backend/remote-state/manta/backend.go
index a3fdfe641..9189ad890 100644
--- a/backend/remote-state/manta/backend.go
+++ b/backend/remote-state/manta/backend.go
@@ -131,9 +131,6 @@ func (b *Backend) configure(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if data.Get("key_id").(string) == "" {
 		validationError = multierror.Append(validationError, errors.New("`Key ID` must be configured for the Triton provider"))
 	}
-	if data.Get("key_id").(string) == "" {
-		validationError = multierror.Append(validationError, errors.New("`Key ID` must be configured for the Triton provider"))
-	}
 	if b.path == "" {
 		validationError = multierror.Append(validationError, errors.New("`Path` must be configured for the Triton provider"))
 	}
diff --git a/backend/remote-state/manta/backend_test.go b/backend/remote-state/manta/backend_test.go
index 7e53b928e..be9b2575d 100644
--- a/backend/remote-state/manta/backend_test.go
+++ b/backend/remote-state/manta/backend_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ func testACC(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Log("Manta backend tests require setting TF_ACC or TF_MANTA_TEST")
 		t.Skip()
 	}
+	skip = os.Getenv("TRITON_ACCOUNT") == "" && os.Getenv("SDC_ACCOUNT") == ""
+	if skip {
+		t.Fatal("Manta backend tests require setting TRITON_ACCOUNT or SDC_ACCOUNT")
+	}
+	skip = os.Getenv("TRITON_KEY_ID") == "" && os.Getenv("SDC_KEY_ID") == ""
+	if skip {
+		t.Fatal("Manta backend tests require setting TRITON_KEY_ID or SDC_KEY_ID")
+	}
 }
 
 func TestBackend_impl(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/backend/remote-state/oss/backend_test.go b/backend/remote-state/oss/backend_test.go
index 16e717eb7..c71ed2325 100644
--- a/backend/remote-state/oss/backend_test.go
+++ b/backend/remote-state/oss/backend_test.go
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
+	"strings"
+
 	"github.com/aliyun/aliyun-oss-go-sdk/oss"
 	"github.com/aliyun/aliyun-tablestore-go-sdk/tablestore"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/backend"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/terraform/configs/hcl2shim"
-	"strings"
 )
 
 // verify that we are doing ACC tests or the OSS tests specifically
@@ -20,6 +21,9 @@ func testACC(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Log("oss backend tests require setting TF_ACC or TF_OSS_TEST")
 		t.Skip()
 	}
+	if skip {
+		t.Fatal("oss backend tests require setting ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY or ALICLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID")
+	}
 	if os.Getenv("ALICLOUD_REGION") == "" {
 		os.Setenv("ALICLOUD_REGION", "cn-beijing")
 	}
diff --git a/internal/initwd/from_module_test.go b/internal/initwd/from_module_test.go
index b467552b5..f45e2b324 100644
--- a/internal/initwd/from_module_test.go
+++ b/internal/initwd/from_module_test.go
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ func TestDirFromModule_registry(t *testing.T) {
 
 	fixtureDir := filepath.Clean("testdata/empty")
 	tmpDir, done := tempChdir(t, fixtureDir)
+
+	// the module installer runs filepath.EvalSymlinks() on the destination
+	// directory before copying files, and the resultant directory is what is
+	// returned by the install hooks. Without this, tests could fail on machines
+	// where the default temp dir was a symlink.
 	dir, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(tmpDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
diff --git a/internal/initwd/module_install_test.go b/internal/initwd/module_install_test.go
index 786f84400..444968169 100644
--- a/internal/initwd/module_install_test.go
+++ b/internal/initwd/module_install_test.go
@@ -233,6 +233,10 @@ func TestLoaderInstallModules_registry(t *testing.T) {
 
 	fixtureDir := filepath.Clean("testdata/registry-modules")
 	tmpDir, done := tempChdir(t, fixtureDir)
+	// the module installer runs filepath.EvalSymlinks() on the destination
+	// directory before copying files, and the resultant directory is what is
+	// returned by the install hooks. Without this, tests could fail on machines
+	// where the default temp dir was a symlink.
 	dir, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(tmpDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)
@@ -365,6 +369,10 @@ func TestLoaderInstallModules_goGetter(t *testing.T) {
 
 	fixtureDir := filepath.Clean("testdata/go-getter-modules")
 	tmpDir, done := tempChdir(t, fixtureDir)
+	// the module installer runs filepath.EvalSymlinks() on the destination
+	// directory before copying files, and the resultant directory is what is
+	// returned by the install hooks. Without this, tests could fail on machines
+	// where the default temp dir was a symlink.
 	dir, err := filepath.EvalSymlinks(tmpDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Error(err)