diff --git a/test/test_binary.cpp b/test/test_binary.cpp
index ffb31223..f0317a8a 100644
--- a/test/test_binary.cpp
+++ b/test/test_binary.cpp
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ int test_main( int /* argc */, char* /* argv */[] )
     {   
         test_ostream os(testfile, TEST_STREAM_FLAGS);
         test_oarchive oa(os, TEST_ARCHIVE_FLAGS);
-        oa << BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(a);
         boost::serialization::make_nvp(
             "s1", boost::serialization::make_binary_object(s1, sizeof(s1))
         );
@@ -92,6 +91,7 @@ int test_main( int /* argc */, char* /* argv */[] )
         oa << boost::serialization::make_nvp(
             "s4", boost::serialization::make_binary_object(s4, sizeof(s4))
         );
+        oa << BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(a);
         // note: add a little bit on the end of the archive to detect
         // failure of text mode binary.
         oa << BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(i);
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ int test_main( int /* argc */, char* /* argv */[] )
     {
         test_istream is(testfile, TEST_STREAM_FLAGS);
         test_iarchive ia(is, TEST_ARCHIVE_FLAGS);
-        ia >> BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(a1);
         boost::serialization::make_nvp(
             "s1", boost::serialization::make_binary_object(s1_1, sizeof(s1))
         );
@@ -112,6 +111,7 @@ int test_main( int /* argc */, char* /* argv */[] )
         ia >> boost::serialization::make_nvp(
             "s4", boost::serialization::make_binary_object(s1_4, sizeof(s4))
         );
+        ia >> BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(a1);
         // note: add a little bit on the end of the archive to detect
         // failure of text mode binary.
         ia >> BOOST_SERIALIZATION_NVP(i1);
diff --git a/test/test_tools.hpp b/test/test_tools.hpp
index 4bdd4c31..a6f0ba06 100644
--- a/test/test_tools.hpp
+++ b/test/test_tools.hpp
@@ -74,21 +74,22 @@ namespace boost {
 namespace archive {
     char * test_filename(char * dir = NULL, char *fname = NULL){
         static char ibuffer [512];
-
-        if(NULL == dir)
+        int i;
+        ibuffer[0] = '\0';
+        if(NULL == dir){
             dir = boost::archive::tmpdir();
-
+        }
+        STRCPY(ibuffer, dir);
+        std::strcat(ibuffer, "/");
+        i = std::strlen(ibuffer);
         if(NULL == fname){
             char old_dir[256];
             _getcwd(old_dir, sizeof(old_dir) - 1);
             chdir(dir);
-
-            std::tmpnam(ibuffer);
+            std::tmpnam(ibuffer + i);
             chdir(old_dir);
         }
         else{
-            STRCPY(ibuffer, dir);
-            std::strcat(ibuffer, "/");
             std::strcat(ibuffer, fname);
         }
         return ibuffer;