diff --git a/cluster/state.go b/cluster/state.go
index 3e5a7af..c6a8fa3 100644
--- a/cluster/state.go
+++ b/cluster/state.go
@@ -16,7 +16,8 @@ type state struct {
 	Nodes      []common.Node
 }
 
-const statePath = "/var/lib/wesher/state.json"
+// TODO: this should be replaced by a configurable path later
+var statePath = "/var/lib/wesher/state.json"
 
 func (s *state) save() error {
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(path.Dir(statePath), 0700); err != nil {
diff --git a/cluster/state_test.go b/cluster/state_test.go
index 7465b35..cdbb24f 100644
--- a/cluster/state_test.go
+++ b/cluster/state_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func Test_state_save_soad(t *testing.T) {
+	statePath = "/tmp/wesher.json"
 	key := "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEF"
 	node := common.Node{
 		Name: "node",