diff --git a/kitty_tests/atexit.py b/kitty_tests/atexit.py
index 3caa4fbb4..45a2033e3 100644
--- a/kitty_tests/atexit.py
+++ b/kitty_tests/atexit.py
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@ class Atexit(BaseTest):
     def tearDown(self):
         shutil.rmtree(self.tdir)
 
+    def test_go_atexit(self):
+        cp = subprocess.run([kitten_exe(), '__atexit__', 'test'], cwd=self.tdir)
+        self.ae(cp.returncode, 0)
+        self.assertFalse(os.listdir(self.tdir))
+
     def test_atexit(self):
 
         def r(action='close'):
diff --git a/tools/cmd/atexit/main.go b/tools/cmd/atexit/main.go
index 91d62edb8..5fd527655 100644
--- a/tools/cmd/atexit/main.go
+++ b/tools/cmd/atexit/main.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/tools/cli"
+	"github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/tools/utils"
 	"github.com/kovidgoyal/kitty/tools/utils/shm"
 )
 
@@ -33,6 +34,9 @@ func main() (rc int, err error) {
 	rc = 0
 	for _, line := range lines {
 		if action, rest, found := strings.Cut(line, " "); found {
+			if !found {
+				continue
+			}
 			switch action {
 			case "unlink":
 				if err := os.Remove(rest); err != nil && !os.IsNotExist(err) {
@@ -55,6 +59,25 @@ func main() (rc int, err error) {
 	return
 }
 
+func do_test() (err error) {
+	if err = os.WriteFile("file", []byte("moose"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if err = utils.AtExitUnlink("file"); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if err = os.Mkdir("dir", 0o700); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if err = utils.AtExitRmtree("dir"); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if err = os.WriteFile("dir/sf", []byte("cat"), 0o600); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	return
+}
+
 func EntryPoint(root *cli.Command) {
 	root.AddSubCommand(&cli.Command{
 		Name:            "__atexit__",
@@ -62,6 +85,13 @@ func EntryPoint(root *cli.Command) {
 		OnlyArgsAllowed: true,
 		Run: func(cmd *cli.Command, args []string) (rc int, err error) {
 			if len(args) != 0 {
+				if args[0] == "test" {
+					rc = 0
+					if err = do_test(); err != nil {
+						rc = 1
+					}
+					return
+				}
 				return 1, fmt.Errorf("Usage: __atexit__")
 			}
 			return main()
diff --git a/tools/utils/atexit.go b/tools/utils/atexit.go
index 14de67315..b9538b8de 100644
--- a/tools/utils/atexit.go
+++ b/tools/utils/atexit.go
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 package utils
 
 import (
+	"flag"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 )
@@ -18,11 +20,21 @@ type worker struct {
 
 var worker_started atomic.Bool
 
+// IsTesting returns true if the code is being run by "go test".
+func IsTesting() bool {
+	return flag.Lookup("test.v") != nil
+}
+
 var get_worker = sync.OnceValues(func() (*worker, error) {
 	exe, err := os.Executable()
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+	if IsTesting() {
+		if exe, err = filepath.Abs("../../kitty/launcher/kitten"); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
 	cmd := exec.Command(exe, "__atexit__")
 	cmd.Stdout = nil
 	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
@@ -32,23 +44,36 @@ var get_worker = sync.OnceValues(func() (*worker, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	ans.stdin_pipe = si
-	if err = cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+	if err = cmd.Start(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	worker_started.Store(true)
 	return &ans, nil
 })
 
-func WaitForAtexitWorkerToFinish() {
+func WaitForAtexitWorkerToFinish() error {
 	if worker_started.Load() {
 		if w, err := get_worker(); err == nil {
 			w.stdin_pipe.Close()
-			_ = w.cmd.Wait()
+			return w.cmd.Wait()
+		} else {
+			return err
 		}
 	}
+	return nil
 }
 
 func register(prefix, path string) error {
+	// no atexit cleanup is done as we dont have a good place to run
+	// WaitForAtexitWorkerToFinish() and anyway we may want to run tests in
+	// parallel, etc.
+	if IsTesting() {
+		return nil
+	}
+	path, err := filepath.Abs(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	if w, err := get_worker(); err == nil {
 		_, err = fmt.Fprintln(w.stdin_pipe, prefix+" "+path)
 		return err