diff --git a/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind_test.go b/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind_test.go
index 9a89d3454..124872de0 100644
--- a/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind_test.go
+++ b/chainntnfs/bitcoindnotify/bitcoind_test.go
@@ -105,12 +105,12 @@ func syncNotifierWithMiner(t *testing.T, notifier *BitcoindNotifier,
 // TestHistoricalConfDetailsTxIndex ensures that we correctly retrieve
 // historical confirmation details using the backend node's txindex.
 func TestHistoricalConfDetailsTxIndex(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("txindex enabled", func(st *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("rpc polling enabled", func(st *testing.T) {
 		st.Parallel()
 		testHistoricalConfDetailsTxIndex(st, true)
 	})
 
-	t.Run("txindex disabled", func(st *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("rpc polling disabled", func(st *testing.T) {
 		st.Parallel()
 		testHistoricalConfDetailsTxIndex(st, false)
 	})
@@ -200,12 +200,12 @@ func testHistoricalConfDetailsTxIndex(t *testing.T, rpcPolling bool) {
 // historical confirmation details using the set of fallback methods when the
 // backend node's txindex is disabled.
 func TestHistoricalConfDetailsNoTxIndex(t *testing.T) {
-	t.Run("txindex enabled", func(st *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("rpc polling enabled", func(st *testing.T) {
 		st.Parallel()
 		testHistoricalConfDetailsNoTxIndex(st, true)
 	})
 
-	t.Run("txindex disabled", func(st *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("rpc polling disabled", func(st *testing.T) {
 		st.Parallel()
 		testHistoricalConfDetailsNoTxIndex(st, false)
 	})
diff --git a/chainntnfs/test_utils.go b/chainntnfs/test_utils.go
index 401e2f052..fa6b7cd56 100644
--- a/chainntnfs/test_utils.go
+++ b/chainntnfs/test_utils.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package chainntnfs
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"math/rand"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -197,7 +198,11 @@ func NewBitcoindBackend(t *testing.T, minerAddr string, txindex,
 
 	t.Helper()
 
-	tempBitcoindDir := t.TempDir()
+	// We use ioutil.TempDir here instead of t.TempDir because some versions
+	// of bitcoind complain about the zmq connection string formats when the
+	// t.TempDir directory string is used.
+	tempBitcoindDir, err := ioutil.TempDir("", "bitcoind")
+	require.NoError(t, err, "unable to create temp dir")
 
 	rpcPort := rand.Intn(65536-1024) + 1024
 	zmqBlockHost := "ipc:///" + tempBitcoindDir + "/blocks.socket"
@@ -241,20 +246,20 @@ func NewBitcoindBackend(t *testing.T, minerAddr string, txindex,
 	}
 
 	if rpcpolling {
+		cfg.PollingConfig = &chain.PollingConfig{
+			BlockPollingInterval: time.Millisecond * 20,
+			TxPollingInterval:    time.Millisecond * 20,
+		}
+	} else {
 		cfg.ZMQConfig = &chain.ZMQConfig{
 			ZMQBlockHost:    zmqBlockHost,
 			ZMQTxHost:       zmqTxHost,
 			ZMQReadDeadline: 5 * time.Second,
 		}
-	} else {
-		cfg.PollingConfig = &chain.PollingConfig{
-			BlockPollingInterval: time.Millisecond * 20,
-			TxPollingInterval:    time.Millisecond * 20,
-		}
 	}
 
 	var conn *chain.BitcoindConn
-	err := wait.NoError(func() error {
+	err = wait.NoError(func() error {
 		var err error
 		conn, err = chain.NewBitcoindConn(cfg)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/lntest/wait/wait.go b/lntest/wait/wait.go
index b6274086c..c0cd2ded2 100644
--- a/lntest/wait/wait.go
+++ b/lntest/wait/wait.go
@@ -58,6 +58,13 @@ func NoError(f func() error, timeout time.Duration) error {
 	// If f() doesn't succeed within the timeout, return the last
 	// encountered error.
 	if err := Predicate(pred, timeout); err != nil {
+		// Handle the case where the passed in method, f, hangs for the
+		// full timeout
+		if predErr == nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("method did not return within the " +
+				"timeout")
+		}
+
 		return predErr
 	}