diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f20f8b1c..4c9ce401 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ coverage.xml
 .hypothesis/
 .pytest_cache/
 cover/
+tagstudio/tests/fixtures/library/*
 
 # Translations
 *.mo
diff --git a/tagstudio/tests/conftest.py b/tagstudio/tests/conftest.py
index 036acd8c..2c5cd225 100644
--- a/tagstudio/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tagstudio/tests/conftest.py
@@ -25,9 +25,15 @@ def test_tag():
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def test_library():
+    lib_dir = CWD / "fixtures" / "library"
+
     lib = Library()
-    ret_code = lib.open_library(CWD / "fixtures" / "library")
+    ret_code = lib.open_library(lib_dir)
     assert ret_code == 1
+    # create files for the entries
+    for entry in lib.entries:
+        (lib_dir / entry.filename).touch()
+
     yield lib
 
 
diff --git a/tagstudio/tests/fixtures/library/bar.txt b/tagstudio/tests/fixtures/library/bar.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000
diff --git a/tagstudio/tests/fixtures/library/foo.txt b/tagstudio/tests/fixtures/library/foo.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29b..00000000