diff --git a/tools/boot/lua-img.sh b/tools/boot/lua-img.sh
index 294135da280c..9693c726501d 100755
--- a/tools/boot/lua-img.sh
+++ b/tools/boot/lua-img.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # $FreeBSD$
 
 # Quick script to build a suitable /boot dir somewhere in the tree for testing.
+# dir may be passed in, will default to /tmp/loadertest if not specified
 
 die() {
     echo $*
@@ -11,7 +12,7 @@ die() {
 dir=$1
 cd $(make -V SRCTOP)
 
-[ -n "$dir" ] || die "No directory specified"
+[ -n "$dir" ] || dir=/tmp/loadertest
 
 set -e
 
diff --git a/tools/boot/lua-test.sh b/tools/boot/lua-test.sh
index 9b11eec3ce40..b216d033e1c0 100755
--- a/tools/boot/lua-test.sh
+++ b/tools/boot/lua-test.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ obj=$(make -V .OBJDIR)
 t=$obj/userboot/test/test
 u=$obj/userboot/userboot/userboot.so
 
-[ -n "$dir" ] || die "No directory specified"
+[ -n "$dir" ] || dir=/tmp/loadertest
 [ -d "$dir" ] || die "Directory $dir doesn't exist"
 [ -f "$dir/boot/lua/loader.lua" ] || die "No boot/lua/loader.lua found"
 [ -f "$dir/boot/kernel/kernel" ] || die "No kernel to load"