diff --git a/src/Ruleset.php b/src/Ruleset.php
index c9a89d0c9d..0b72594455 100644
--- a/src/Ruleset.php
+++ b/src/Ruleset.php
@@ -1006,7 +1006,7 @@ private function expandRulesetReference($ref, $rulesetDir, $depth=0)
         if (is_file($ref) === true) {
             if (substr($ref, -9) === 'Sniff.php') {
                 // A single external sniff.
-                $this->rulesetDirs[] = dirname(dirname(dirname($ref)));
+                $this->rulesetDirs[] = dirname($ref, 3);
                 return [$ref];
             }
         } else {
diff --git a/src/Util/Standards.php b/src/Util/Standards.php
index 527f5b792d..ebee5c49b0 100644
--- a/src/Util/Standards.php
+++ b/src/Util/Standards.php
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ public static function getInstalledStandardPaths()
     {
         $ds = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
 
-        $installedPaths = [dirname(dirname(__DIR__)).$ds.'src'.$ds.'Standards'];
+        $installedPaths = [dirname(__DIR__, 2).$ds.'src'.$ds.'Standards'];
         $configPaths    = Config::getConfigData('installed_paths');
         if ($configPaths !== null) {
             $installedPaths = array_merge($installedPaths, explode(',', $configPaths));
diff --git a/tests/Core/Filters/AbstractFilterTestCase.php b/tests/Core/Filters/AbstractFilterTestCase.php
index f95a51c0c7..1c656cc23f 100644
--- a/tests/Core/Filters/AbstractFilterTestCase.php
+++ b/tests/Core/Filters/AbstractFilterTestCase.php
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ protected function getFilteredResultsAsArray(Filter $filter)
      */
     protected static function getBaseDir()
     {
-        return dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__)));
+        return dirname(__DIR__, 3);
 
     }//end getBaseDir()
 
diff --git a/tests/Core/Ruleset/ConstructorTest.php b/tests/Core/Ruleset/ConstructorTest.php
index 3700edd7fd..4880f9112e 100644
--- a/tests/Core/Ruleset/ConstructorTest.php
+++ b/tests/Core/Ruleset/ConstructorTest.php
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ public function testStandardsAreRegisteredWithAutoloader($cliArgs, $expected)
      */
     public static function dataStandardsAreRegisteredWithAutoloader()
     {
-        $basePath     = dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__))).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'src'.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'Standards'.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
+        $basePath     = dirname(__DIR__, 3).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'src'.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'Standards'.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
         $defaultPaths = [
             $basePath.'PEAR'  => 'PEAR',
             $basePath.'PSR1'  => 'PSR1',
diff --git a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RegisterSniffsTest.php b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RegisterSniffsTest.php
index d9510e18b2..8c4afabc95 100644
--- a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RegisterSniffsTest.php
+++ b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RegisterSniffsTest.php
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ public static function setUpBeforeClass(): void
         ksort(self::$originalSniffs);
 
         // Update the sniff file list.
-        $standardsDir  = dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__))).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
+        $standardsDir  = dirname(__DIR__, 3).DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
         $standardsDir .= 'src'.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR.'Standards'.DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
 
         self::$psr1SniffAbsolutePaths = self::relativeToAbsoluteSniffFiles($standardsDir, self::$psr1SniffFiles);
diff --git a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteLinuxTest.php b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteLinuxTest.php
index 80eb4b7ae9..ecad3205f0 100644
--- a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteLinuxTest.php
+++ b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteLinuxTest.php
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ final class RuleInclusionAbsoluteLinuxTest extends TestCase
     protected function setUp(): void
     {
         $this->standard = __DIR__.'/'.basename(__FILE__, '.php').'.xml';
-        $repoRootDir    = dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__)));
+        $repoRootDir    = dirname(__DIR__, 3);
 
         // On-the-fly adjust the ruleset test file to be able to test sniffs included with absolute paths.
         $contents       = file_get_contents($this->standard);
diff --git a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteWindowsTest.php b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteWindowsTest.php
index 73647cad0c..53edcb6747 100644
--- a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteWindowsTest.php
+++ b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionAbsoluteWindowsTest.php
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ final class RuleInclusionAbsoluteWindowsTest extends TestCase
     protected function setUp(): void
     {
         $this->standard = __DIR__.'/'.basename(__FILE__, '.php').'.xml';
-        $repoRootDir    = dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__)));
+        $repoRootDir    = dirname(__DIR__, 3);
 
         // On-the-fly adjust the ruleset test file to be able to test sniffs included with absolute paths.
         $contents       = file_get_contents($this->standard);
diff --git a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionTest.php b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionTest.php
index 9c31d1b79a..70a1547236 100644
--- a/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionTest.php
+++ b/tests/Core/Ruleset/RuleInclusionTest.php
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ protected function setUp(): void
             $contents       = file_get_contents($standard);
             self::$contents = $contents;
 
-            $repoRootDir = basename(dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__))));
+            $repoRootDir = basename(dirname(__DIR__, 3));
 
             $newPath = $repoRootDir;
             if (DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR === '\\') {
diff --git a/tests/Core/Standards/StandardRulesetsQATest.php b/tests/Core/Standards/StandardRulesetsQATest.php
index baba457437..73b113aa83 100644
--- a/tests/Core/Standards/StandardRulesetsQATest.php
+++ b/tests/Core/Standards/StandardRulesetsQATest.php
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public static function dataBuildInStandards()
     {
         // Get a list of all build-in, PHPCS native standards.
         $sep          = DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR;
-        $targetDir    = dirname(dirname(dirname(__DIR__))).$sep.'src'.$sep.'Standards'.$sep;
+        $targetDir    = dirname(__DIR__, 3).$sep.'src'.$sep.'Standards'.$sep;
         $rulesetFiles = glob($targetDir.'*'.$sep.'ruleset.xml');
 
         $data = [];