diff --git a/test/build/base-url-homepage/base-url-homepage.test.js b/test/build/base-url-homepage/base-url-homepage.test.js
index 348a53de6f..f25f284ced 100644
--- a/test/build/base-url-homepage/base-url-homepage.test.js
+++ b/test/build/base-url-homepage/base-url-homepage.test.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ describe('packageManifest.homepage', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['index.html'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('baseUrl works for <link>', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/base-url-remote/base-url-remote.test.js b/test/build/base-url-remote/base-url-remote.test.js
index d3e462bbe3..4cb590ca3b 100644
--- a/test/build/base-url-remote/base-url-remote.test.js
+++ b/test/build/base-url-remote/base-url-remote.test.js
@@ -5,17 +5,15 @@ const {setupBuildTest, readFiles} = require('../../test-utils');
 const cwd = path.join(__dirname, 'build');
 
 let files = {};
-let $;
 
 describe('buildOptions.baseUrl', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
-
-    files = readFiles(['index.html'], {cwd});
-    $ = cheerio.load(files['/index.html']);
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('baseUrl works for <link>', () => {
+    const $ = cheerio.load(files['/index.html']);
     expect($('link[rel="icon"]').attr('href').startsWith('https://www.example.com/')).toBe(true);
     expect($('link[rel="stylesheet"]').attr('href').startsWith('https://www.example.com/')).toBe(
       true,
@@ -23,6 +21,7 @@ describe('buildOptions.baseUrl', () => {
   });
 
   it('baseUrl works for <script>', () => {
+    const $ = cheerio.load(files['/index.html']);
     expect($('script').attr('src').startsWith('https://www.example.com/')).toBe(true);
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/base-url/base-url.test.js b/test/build/base-url/base-url.test.js
index f66b1c83ac..6d96ede79a 100644
--- a/test/build/base-url/base-url.test.js
+++ b/test/build/base-url/base-url.test.js
@@ -5,22 +5,22 @@ const {setupBuildTest, readFiles} = require('../../test-utils');
 const cwd = path.join(__dirname, 'build');
 
 let files = {};
-let $;
 
 describe('buildOptions.baseUrl', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['index.html', 'index.js', '_dist_/index.js'], {cwd});
-    $ = cheerio.load(files['/index.html']);
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('baseUrl works for <link>', () => {
+    const $ = cheerio.load(files['/index.html']);
     expect($('link[rel="icon"]').attr('href').startsWith('/static/')).toBe(true);
     expect($('link[rel="stylesheet"]').attr('href').startsWith('/static/')).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it('baseUrl works for <script>', () => {
+    const $ = cheerio.load(files['/index.html']);
     expect($('script').attr('src').startsWith('/static/')).toBe(true);
   });
 
diff --git a/test/build/bugfix-named-import/bugfix-named-import.test.js b/test/build/bugfix-named-import/bugfix-named-import.test.js
index bbbc556f79..b840ab1cf4 100644
--- a/test/build/bugfix-named-import/bugfix-named-import.test.js
+++ b/test/build/bugfix-named-import/bugfix-named-import.test.js
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ describe('bugfix: named import', () => {
 
   // if this file built successfully, then the ipmort worked
   it('built', () => {
-    const webModule = path.join(__dirname, 'build', 'web_modules', 'array-flatten.js');
+    const webModuleLoc = path.join(__dirname, 'build', 'web_modules', 'array-flatten.js');
 
-    expect(fs.existsSync(webModule)).toBe(true);
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(webModule, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(fs.existsSync(webModuleLoc)).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(webModuleLoc, 'utf8')).toBeTruthy();
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/cdn/cdn.test.js b/test/build/cdn/cdn.test.js
index b1a0e0cc2b..04eddf027a 100644
--- a/test/build/cdn/cdn.test.js
+++ b/test/build/cdn/cdn.test.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ describe('CDN URLs', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['index.html', '_dist_/index.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('HTML: preserves remote URLs', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/config-alias/config-alias.test.js b/test/build/config-alias/config-alias.test.js
index a23dbfaebb..be1b9cec3c 100644
--- a/test/build/config-alias/config-alias.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-alias/config-alias.test.js
@@ -9,9 +9,7 @@ describe('config: alias', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['_dist_/index.js', '_dist_/index.html', '_dist_/components/style.css'], {
-      cwd,
-    });
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('web_modules can be aliased', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/config-extends-plugins/config-extends-plugins.test.js b/test/build/config-extends-plugins/config-extends-plugins.test.js
index 9a318856ab..781043930f 100644
--- a/test/build/config-extends-plugins/config-extends-plugins.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-extends-plugins/config-extends-plugins.test.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ describe('config: extends', () => {
   });
 
   it('loads the appropriate plugins', () => {
-    const snowpackEnv = fs.readFileSync(path.join(cwd, '__snowpack__', 'env.js'), 'utf-8');
+    const snowpackEnv = fs.readFileSync(path.join(cwd, '__snowpack__', 'env.js'), 'utf8');
     expect(snowpackEnv).toEqual(
       expect.stringContaining(`"SNOWPACK_PUBLIC_SECRET_VALUE":"pumpernickel"`),
     );
diff --git a/test/build/config-external-package/config-external-package.test.js b/test/build/config-external-package/config-external-package.test.js
index 13ad861663..476d23e305 100644
--- a/test/build/config-external-package/config-external-package.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-external-package/config-external-package.test.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ describe('config: installOptions.externalPackage', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['_dist_/index.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('preserves external package', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/config-meta-dir/config-meta-dir.test.js b/test/build/config-meta-dir/config-meta-dir.test.js
index e33ae2d90d..b6cf322627 100644
--- a/test/build/config-meta-dir/config-meta-dir.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-meta-dir/config-meta-dir.test.js
@@ -9,13 +9,13 @@ describe('config: buildOptions.metaDir', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['index.js', 'sub/index.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('builds snowpack env', () => {
-    const envFile = path.join(cwd, 'static', 'snowpack', 'env.js');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(envFile)).toBe(true); // file exists
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(envFile, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has contents
+    const envFileLoc = path.join(cwd, 'static', 'snowpack', 'env.js');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(envFileLoc)).toBe(true); // file exists
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(envFileLoc, 'utf8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has contents
   });
 
   it('resolves snowpack env', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/config-mount/config-mount.test.js b/test/build/config-mount/config-mount.test.js
index 35056c88a5..051ef176c4 100644
--- a/test/build/config-mount/config-mount.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-mount/config-mount.test.js
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ function generateContentsMap(dir) {
   const allFiles = glob.sync(dir + '**/*', {nodir: true});
   allFiles.sort((a, b) => a.localeCompare(b, {numeric: true}));
   allFiles.forEach((file) => {
-    contentMap[path.relative(dir, file)] = fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf-8');
+    contentMap[path.relative(dir, file)] = fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf8');
   });
   return contentMap;
 }
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ describe('config: mount', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['h/main.html', 'i/index.js', 'new-g/index.js', 'new-g/main.html'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   describe('basic', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/config-out-flag/config-out-flag.test.js b/test/build/config-out-flag/config-out-flag.test.js
index 9e3affc71a..bbc896fea3 100644
--- a/test/build/config-out-flag/config-out-flag.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-out-flag/config-out-flag.test.js
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ describe('CLI: --out flag', () => {
   });
 
   it('respects --out', () => {
-    const distJS = path.join(cwd, 'src', 'index.js');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(distJS)).toBe(true);
+    const distJSLoc = path.join(cwd, 'src', 'index.js');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(distJSLoc)).toBe(true); // JS file exists
 
-    const snowpackMeta = path.join(cwd, '__snowpack__', 'env.js');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(snowpackMeta)).toBe(true);
+    const snowpackMetaLoc = path.join(cwd, '__snowpack__', 'env.js');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(snowpackMetaLoc)).toBe(true); // snowpack meta exists
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/config-out/config-out.test.js b/test/build/config-out/config-out.test.js
index 1523ac7d0f..865ddf260f 100644
--- a/test/build/config-out/config-out.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-out/config-out.test.js
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ describe('config: buildOptions.out', () => {
   });
 
   it('respects buildOptions.out', () => {
-    const distJS = path.join(cwd, 'src', 'index.js');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(distJS)).toBe(true);
+    const distJSLoc = path.join(cwd, 'src', 'index.js');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(distJSLoc)).toBe(true); // JS file exists
 
-    const snowpackMeta = path.join(cwd, '__snowpack__', 'env.js');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(snowpackMeta)).toBe(true);
+    const snowpackMetaLoc = path.join(cwd, '__snowpack__', 'env.js');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(snowpackMetaLoc)).toBe(true); // snowpack meta exists
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/config-treeshake/config-treeshake.test.js b/test/build/config-treeshake/config-treeshake.test.js
index f4ec8f9a91..bdb293ac0d 100644
--- a/test/build/config-treeshake/config-treeshake.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-treeshake/config-treeshake.test.js
@@ -12,16 +12,16 @@ describe('installOptions.treeshake', () => {
   });
 
   it('built web_modules/array-flatten.js', () => {
-    const webModule = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'array-flatten.js');
+    const webModuleLoc = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'array-flatten.js');
 
-    expect(fs.existsSync(webModule)).toBe(true); // file exists
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(webModule, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has contents
+    expect(fs.existsSync(webModuleLoc)).toBe(true); // file exists
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(webModuleLoc, 'utf8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has contents
   });
 
   it('built web_modules/async.js', () => {
-    const webModule = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'async.js');
+    const webModuleLoc = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'async.js');
 
-    expect(fs.existsSync(webModule)).toBe(true); // file exists
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(webModule, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has contents
+    expect(fs.existsSync(webModuleLoc)).toBe(true); // file exists
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(webModuleLoc, 'utf8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has contents
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/config-ts-file/config-ts-file.test.js b/test/build/config-ts-file/config-ts-file.test.js
index 102069d2a7..ffc848027e 100644
--- a/test/build/config-ts-file/config-ts-file.test.js
+++ b/test/build/config-ts-file/config-ts-file.test.js
@@ -10,8 +10,8 @@ describe('config: TypeScript config', () => {
   });
 
   it('mounts & builds correctly', () => {
-    const webModule = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.js');
+    const webModuleLoc = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.js');
 
-    expect(fs.existsSync(webModule)).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(webModuleLoc)).toBe(true);
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/css-modules/css-modules.test.js b/test/build/css-modules/css-modules.test.js
index e27803d64b..833b50b712 100644
--- a/test/build/css-modules/css-modules.test.js
+++ b/test/build/css-modules/css-modules.test.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe('', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['src/App.module.css', 'src/App.module.css.proxy.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('builds css.proxy.js file', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/custom-modules-dir/custom-modules-dir.test.js b/test/build/custom-modules-dir/custom-modules-dir.test.js
index d4ea32866c..0268677940 100644
--- a/test/build/custom-modules-dir/custom-modules-dir.test.js
+++ b/test/build/custom-modules-dir/custom-modules-dir.test.js
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ describe('buildOptions.webModulesUrl', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['_dist_/index.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('snowpack: installs in specified directory', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/entrypoint-ids/entrypoint-ids.test.js b/test/build/entrypoint-ids/entrypoint-ids.test.js
index 90363663cd..f8c3584569 100644
--- a/test/build/entrypoint-ids/entrypoint-ids.test.js
+++ b/test/build/entrypoint-ids/entrypoint-ids.test.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ describe('core: web_modules resolution', () => {
     const capitalize = os.platform() === 'win32'; // for Windows, we capitalize this one directory to see if Snowpack can still resolve
     setupBuildTest(capitalize ? __dirname.toUpperCase() : __dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['_dist_/index.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('resolves web_modules without case-sensitivity', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/html-environment-variables/html-environment-variables.test.js b/test/build/html-environment-variables/html-environment-variables.test.js
index 24dfe415d7..f3051a67d7 100644
--- a/test/build/html-environment-variables/html-environment-variables.test.js
+++ b/test/build/html-environment-variables/html-environment-variables.test.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe('html-environment-variables', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['index.html'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('passes env vars into HTML', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/import-assets/import-assets.test.js b/test/build/import-assets/import-assets.test.js
index 75b31efe6a..6ebdfd982d 100644
--- a/test/build/import-assets/import-assets.test.js
+++ b/test/build/import-assets/import-assets.test.js
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@ let files = {};
 describe('import resource', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
-    files = readFiles(['_dist_/index.js', '_dist_/styles.css', '_dist_/styles.css.proxy.js'], {
-      cwd,
-    });
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   describe('css', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/import-json/import-json.test.js b/test/build/import-json/import-json.test.js
index b1d985f6b1..41f79689f2 100644
--- a/test/build/import-json/import-json.test.js
+++ b/test/build/import-json/import-json.test.js
@@ -1,38 +1,29 @@
 const path = require('path');
-const {setupBuildTest, readFiles} = require('../../test-utils');
+const {setupBuildTest, readFiles, stripWS} = require('../../test-utils');
 
-const STRIP_WHITESPACE = /((\s+$)|((\\r\\n)|(\\n)))/gm;
 const cwd = path.join(__dirname, 'build');
 let files = {};
 
 describe('import-json', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
-    files = readFiles(
-      [
-        '_dist_/index.js',
-        '_dist_/file.json.proxy.js',
-        'web_modules/json-test-pkg/file.json.proxy.js',
-      ],
-      {
-        cwd,
-      },
-    );
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('imports in source file are transformed correctly', () => {
-    expect(files['/_dist_/index.js'].replace(STRIP_WHITESPACE, '')).toEqual(`import testJsonData from './file.json.proxy.js';
+    expect(stripWS(files['/_dist_/index.js']))
+      .toEqual(`import testJsonData from './file.json.proxy.js';
 import testJsonPkgData from '../web_modules/json-test-pkg/file.json.proxy.js';
 console.log('loaded:', testJsonData, testJsonPkgData);`);
   });
 
   it('local json file is built as expected', () => {
-    expect(files['/_dist_/file.json.proxy.js'].replace(STRIP_WHITESPACE, '')).toEqual(`let json = {"test":true};
+    expect(stripWS(files['/_dist_/file.json.proxy.js'])).toEqual(`let json = {"test":true};
 export default json;`);
   });
 
   it('npm package json file is imported as expected', () => {
-    expect(files['/web_modules/json-test-pkg/file.json.proxy.js'].replace(STRIP_WHITESPACE, ''))
+    expect(stripWS(files['/web_modules/json-test-pkg/file.json.proxy.js']))
       .toEqual(`let json = {"test-json-pkg":true};
 export default json;`);
   });
diff --git a/test/build/legacy-mount-scripts/legacy-mount.test.js b/test/build/legacy-mount-scripts/legacy-mount.test.js
index 7742ce69a3..624f1c07c9 100644
--- a/test/build/legacy-mount-scripts/legacy-mount.test.js
+++ b/test/build/legacy-mount-scripts/legacy-mount.test.js
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ describe('config: mount scripts (legacy)', () => {
   });
 
   it('mounted ./src', () => {
-    const js = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.js');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(js)).toBe(true); // file exists
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(js, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has content
+    const jsLoc = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.js');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(jsLoc)).toBe(true); // file exists
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(jsLoc, 'utf8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has content
   });
 
   it('mounted ./public', () => {
-    const html = path.join(cwd, 'index.html');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(html)).toBe(true); // file exists
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(html, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has content
+    const htmlLoc = path.join(cwd, 'index.html');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(htmlLoc)).toBe(true); // file exists
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(htmlLoc, 'utf8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has content
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/module-resolution/module-resolution.test.js b/test/build/module-resolution/module-resolution.test.js
index 07c36c6f5c..1da5462ccf 100644
--- a/test/build/module-resolution/module-resolution.test.js
+++ b/test/build/module-resolution/module-resolution.test.js
@@ -8,10 +8,7 @@ describe('module resolution', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(
-      ['src.js', 'index.html', 'folder-1/index.html', 'folder-1/folder-2/index.html'],
-      {cwd},
-    );
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('JS: resolves web_modules relatively', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/package-bootstrap/package-bootstrap.test.js b/test/build/package-bootstrap/package-bootstrap.test.js
index a03525c2b1..e9b49a63f4 100644
--- a/test/build/package-bootstrap/package-bootstrap.test.js
+++ b/test/build/package-bootstrap/package-bootstrap.test.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ describe('package: bootstrap', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['_dist_/index.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('resolves JS', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/package-tippy-js/package-tippy-js.test.js b/test/build/package-tippy-js/package-tippy-js.test.js
index cf1118fd41..9939864c19 100644
--- a/test/build/package-tippy-js/package-tippy-js.test.js
+++ b/test/build/package-tippy-js/package-tippy-js.test.js
@@ -9,15 +9,15 @@ describe('package: tippy.js', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['_dist_/index.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('builds to the correct path', () => {
-    const mainEntry = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'tippyjs.js');
-    const assets = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'tippyjs');
+    const mainEntryLoc = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'tippyjs.js');
+    const assetsLoc = path.join(cwd, 'web_modules', 'tippyjs');
 
-    expect(fs.existsSync(mainEntry) && fs.statSync(mainEntry).isFile()).toBe(true);
-    expect(fs.existsSync(assets) && fs.statSync(assets).isDirectory()).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(mainEntryLoc) && fs.statSync(mainEntryLoc).isFile()).toBe(true);
+    expect(fs.existsSync(assetsLoc) && fs.statSync(assetsLoc).isDirectory()).toBe(true);
   });
 
   it('resolves imports', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/plugin-build-script/plugin-build-script.test.js b/test/build/plugin-build-script/plugin-build-script.test.js
index e72815a054..edfd50547c 100644
--- a/test/build/plugin-build-script/plugin-build-script.test.js
+++ b/test/build/plugin-build-script/plugin-build-script.test.js
@@ -10,13 +10,13 @@ describe('@snowpack/plugin-build-script', () => {
   });
 
   it('runs Babel on TS', () => {
-    const js = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.js');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(js)).toBe(true); // file exists
-    expect(fs.readFileSync(js, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has content
+    const jsLoc = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.js');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(jsLoc)).toBe(true); // file exists
+    expect(fs.readFileSync(jsLoc, 'utf-8')).toBeTruthy(); // file has content
   });
 
   it('doesn’t leave TS in build', () => {
-    const ts = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.ts');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(ts)).not.toBe(true); // file doesn’t exist
+    const tsLoc = path.join(cwd, '_dist_', 'index.ts');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(tsLoc)).not.toBe(true); // file doesn’t exist
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/plugin-hook-optimize/plugin-hook-optimize.test.js b/test/build/plugin-hook-optimize/plugin-hook-optimize.test.js
index 6ec057fd4d..4174fbef8c 100644
--- a/test/build/plugin-hook-optimize/plugin-hook-optimize.test.js
+++ b/test/build/plugin-hook-optimize/plugin-hook-optimize.test.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ describe('plugin API: optimize()', () => {
     expect(files.join(',')).not.toEqual(expect.stringContaining('artifact.txt')); // note: this is a simple check if `artifact.txt` occurs in any part of a filename here
 
     // test 2: artifact.txt is generated by optimize() plugin hook
-    const artifact = path.join(__dirname, 'build', 'artifact.txt');
-    expect(fs.existsSync(artifact)).toBe(true);
+    const artifactLoc = path.join(__dirname, 'build', 'artifact.txt');
+    expect(fs.existsSync(artifactLoc)).toBe(true);
   });
 });
diff --git a/test/build/plugin-hook-transform/plugin-hook-transform.test.js b/test/build/plugin-hook-transform/plugin-hook-transform.test.js
index 7f8cec83ea..e2ec23f69b 100644
--- a/test/build/plugin-hook-transform/plugin-hook-transform.test.js
+++ b/test/build/plugin-hook-transform/plugin-hook-transform.test.js
@@ -10,10 +10,7 @@ describe('plugin API: transform()', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(
-      ['src/index.js', 'src/submodule.ts', 'build/_dist_/index.js', 'build/_dist_/submodule.js'],
-      {cwd},
-    );
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   it('transforms JS', () => {
diff --git a/test/build/preload-css/preload-css.test.js b/test/build/preload-css/preload-css.test.js
index d258a19555..f1d94d2a4c 100644
--- a/test/build/preload-css/preload-css.test.js
+++ b/test/build/preload-css/preload-css.test.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ describe('@snowpack/plugin-optimize', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
     setupBuildTest(__dirname);
 
-    files = readFiles(['index.html', '_dist_/vanilla.js'], {cwd});
+    files = readFiles(cwd);
   });
 
   describe('CSS', () => {
diff --git a/test/create-snowpack-app/__snapshots__/create-snowpack-app.test.js.snap b/test/create-snowpack-app/__snapshots__/create-snowpack-app.test.js.snap
index 6ad54c74b7..c012f1d6c3 100644
--- a/test/create-snowpack-app/__snapshots__/create-snowpack-app.test.js.snap
+++ b/test/create-snowpack-app/__snapshots__/create-snowpack-app.test.js.snap
@@ -7363,7 +7363,7 @@ exports[`create-snowpack-app app-template-minimal > build: package.json 1`] = `
 "{
   \\"name\\": \\"@snowpack/app-template-minimal\\",
   \\"description\\": \\"A preconfigured minimal template for Snowpack\\",
-  \\"version\\": \\"1.0.6\\",
+  \\"version\\": \\"1.0.7\\",
   \\"license\\": \\"MIT\\",
   \\"homepage\\": \\"https://github.com/snowpackjs/snowpack/tree/main/create-snowpack-app/app-template-preact#readme\\",
   \\"repository\\": {
@@ -7381,7 +7381,7 @@ exports[`create-snowpack-app app-template-minimal > build: package.json 1`] = `
     \\"test\\": \\"echo \\\\\\"This template does not include a test runner by default.\\\\\\" && exit 1\\"
   },
   \\"devDependencies\\": {
-    \\"snowpack\\": \\"^2.18.1\\"
+    \\"snowpack\\": \\"^2.18.2\\"
   }
 }"
 `;
diff --git a/test/test-utils.js b/test/test-utils.js
index cc14ed6fc2..cdc9d826a9 100644
--- a/test/test-utils.js
+++ b/test/test-utils.js
@@ -1,23 +1,53 @@
 const fs = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const {execSync} = require('child_process');
+const glob = require('glob');
+
+const STRIP_CHUNKHASH = /([\w\-]+\-)[a-z0-9]{8}(\.js)/g;
+const STRIP_REV = /\?rev=\w+/gm;
+const STRIP_WHITESPACE = /((\s+$)|((\\r\\n)|(\\n)))/gm;
+const UTF8_FRIENDLY_EXTS = ['css', 'html', 'js', 'jsx', 'ts', 'tsx', 'svelte', 'svg', 'vue']; // only read non-binary files (add more exts here as needed)
 
 /** setup for /tests/build/* */
 function setupBuildTest(cwd) {
-  execSync('yarn testbuild', {cwd});
+  return execSync('yarn testbuild', {cwd});
 }
 exports.setupBuildTest = setupBuildTest;
 
-/** take an array of files, return contents of files (won’t read entire directory for performance) */
-function readFiles(files, {cwd}) {
-  if (!cwd) throw new Error(`cwd option missing, ex: readFiles(files, { cwd: __dirname })`);
+/** read a directory of files */
+function readFiles(directory, {ignore} = {}) {
+  if (!directory) throw new Error(`must specify directory`);
 
   const contents = {};
-  (Array.isArray(files) ? files : [files]).forEach((f) => {
-    const relativePath = f.replace(/^\/?/, '/');
-    const filepath = path.join(cwd, ...f.split('/'));
-    contents[relativePath] = fs.readFileSync(filepath, 'utf-8');
+  const allFiles = glob.sync(`**/*.{${UTF8_FRIENDLY_EXTS.join(',')}}`, {
+    cwd: directory,
+    nodir: true,
+    ignore,
+  });
+
+  allFiles.forEach((filepath) => {
+    const relativePath = filepath.replace(/^\/?/, '/');
+    contents[relativePath] = fs.readFileSync(path.join(directory, filepath), 'utf8');
   });
+
   return contents;
 }
 exports.readFiles = readFiles;
+
+/** strip chunk hash from URLs */
+function stripChunkhash(code) {
+  return code.replace(STRIP_CHUNKHASH, '$1XXXXXXXX$2');
+}
+exports.stripChunkhash = stripChunkhash;
+
+/** strip ?rev= from URLs */
+function stripRev(code) {
+  return code.replace(STRIP_REV, '?rev=XXXXXXXXXX');
+}
+exports.stripRev = stripRev;
+
+/** strip whitespace */
+function stripWS(code) {
+  return code.replace(STRIP_WHITESPACE, '');
+}
+exports.stripWS = stripWS;