diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index fa9a70dc1..24701d08a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ test=[
     "mypy",
     "ruff",
     "requests-mock",
+    "pytest-mock",
 ]
 examples=[
     "matplotlib",
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index b523117c1..e4d75a6ef 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import openml
 from openml.testing import TestBase
 
+import inspect
 
 # creating logger for unit test file deletion status
 logger = logging.getLogger("unit_tests")
@@ -288,3 +289,17 @@ def with_test_cache(test_files_directory, request):
     openml.config.set_root_cache_directory(_root_cache_directory)
     if tmp_cache.exists():
         shutil.rmtree(tmp_cache)
+        
+        
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def static_cache_dir():
+    
+    return Path(__file__).parent / "files" 
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def workdir(tmp_path):
+    original_cwd = Path.cwd()
+    os.chdir(tmp_path)
+    yield tmp_path
+    os.chdir(original_cwd)
diff --git a/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset.py b/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset.py
index 2f323b38a..e839b09f2 100644
--- a/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset.py
+++ b/tests/test_datasets/test_dataset.py
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 from openml.exceptions import PyOpenMLError
 from openml.testing import TestBase
 
+import pytest
+
 
 @pytest.mark.production()
 class OpenMLDatasetTest(TestBase):
@@ -398,61 +400,63 @@ def test_get_sparse_categorical_data_id_395(self):
         assert len(feature.nominal_values) == 25
 
 
-class OpenMLDatasetFunctionTest(TestBase):
-    @unittest.mock.patch("openml.datasets.dataset.pickle")
-    @unittest.mock.patch("openml.datasets.dataset._get_features_pickle_file")
-    def test__read_features(self, filename_mock, pickle_mock):
-        """Test we read the features from the xml if no cache pickle is available.
-
-        This test also does some simple checks to verify that the features are read correctly
-        """
-        filename_mock.return_value = os.path.join(self.workdir, "features.xml.pkl")
-        pickle_mock.load.side_effect = FileNotFoundError
-        features = openml.datasets.dataset._read_features(
-            os.path.join(
-                self.static_cache_dir,
-                "org",
-                "openml",
-                "test",
-                "datasets",
-                "2",
-                "features.xml",
-            ),
-        )
-        assert isinstance(features, dict)
-        assert len(features) == 39
-        assert isinstance(features[0], OpenMLDataFeature)
-        assert features[0].name == "family"
-        assert len(features[0].nominal_values) == 9
-        # pickle.load is never called because the features pickle file didn't exist
-        assert pickle_mock.load.call_count == 0
-        assert pickle_mock.dump.call_count == 1
-
-    @unittest.mock.patch("openml.datasets.dataset.pickle")
-    @unittest.mock.patch("openml.datasets.dataset._get_qualities_pickle_file")
-    def test__read_qualities(self, filename_mock, pickle_mock):
-        """Test we read the qualities from the xml if no cache pickle is available.
-
-        This test also does some minor checks to ensure that the qualities are read correctly.
-        """
-        filename_mock.return_value = os.path.join(self.workdir, "qualities.xml.pkl")
-        pickle_mock.load.side_effect = FileNotFoundError
-        qualities = openml.datasets.dataset._read_qualities(
-            os.path.join(
-                self.static_cache_dir,
-                "org",
-                "openml",
-                "test",
-                "datasets",
-                "2",
-                "qualities.xml",
-            ),
-        )
-        assert isinstance(qualities, dict)
-        assert len(qualities) == 106
-        # pickle.load is never called because the qualities pickle file didn't exist
-        assert pickle_mock.load.call_count == 0
-        assert pickle_mock.dump.call_count == 1
+def test__read_features(mocker, workdir, static_cache_dir):
+    """Test we read the features from the xml if no cache pickle is available.
+    This test also does some simple checks to verify that the features are read correctly
+    """
+    filename_mock = mocker.patch("openml.datasets.dataset._get_features_pickle_file")
+    pickle_mock = mocker.patch("openml.datasets.dataset.pickle")
+
+    filename_mock.return_value = os.path.join(workdir, "features.xml.pkl")
+    pickle_mock.load.side_effect = FileNotFoundError
+
+    features = openml.datasets.dataset._read_features(
+        os.path.join(
+            static_cache_dir,
+            "org",
+            "openml",
+            "test",
+            "datasets",
+            "2",
+            "features.xml",
+        ),
+    )
+    assert isinstance(features, dict)
+    assert len(features) == 39
+    assert isinstance(features[0], OpenMLDataFeature)
+    assert features[0].name == "family"
+    assert len(features[0].nominal_values) == 9
+    # pickle.load is never called because the features pickle file didn't exist
+    assert pickle_mock.load.call_count == 0
+    assert pickle_mock.dump.call_count == 1
+
+
+def test__read_qualities(static_cache_dir, workdir, mocker):
+    """Test we read the qualities from the xml if no cache pickle is available.
+    This test also does some minor checks to ensure that the qualities are read correctly.
+    """
+
+    filename_mock = mocker.patch("openml.datasets.dataset._get_qualities_pickle_file")
+    pickle_mock = mocker.patch("openml.datasets.dataset.pickle")
+
+    filename_mock.return_value=os.path.join(workdir, "qualities.xml.pkl")
+    pickle_mock.load.side_effect = FileNotFoundError
+
+    qualities = openml.datasets.dataset._read_qualities(
+        os.path.join(
+            static_cache_dir,
+            "org",
+            "openml",
+            "test",
+            "datasets",
+            "2",
+            "qualities.xml",
+        ),
+    )
+    assert isinstance(qualities, dict)
+    assert len(qualities) == 106
+    assert pickle_mock.load.call_count == 0
+    assert pickle_mock.dump.call_count == 1