diff --git a/cpp/include/cudf_test/file_utilities.hpp b/cpp/include/cudf_test/file_utilities.hpp
index 6c21d8dfad2..4df7b6a69c8 100644
--- a/cpp/include/cudf_test/file_utilities.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/cudf_test/file_utilities.hpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2020, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
+ * Copyright (c) 2020-2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ class temp_directory {
     return std::remove(pathname);
   }
 
+  temp_directory& operator=(temp_directory const&) = delete;
+  temp_directory(temp_directory const&)            = delete;
+  temp_directory& operator=(temp_directory&&) = default;
+  temp_directory(temp_directory&&)            = default;
+
   ~temp_directory()
   {
     // TODO: should use std::filesystem instead, once C++17 support added
diff --git a/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp b/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp
index e2893a2e881..f7e250f1d3f 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp
+++ b/cpp/src/io/utilities/file_io_utilities.cpp
@@ -88,13 +88,13 @@ class cufile_shim {
 void cufile_shim::modify_cufile_json() const
 {
   std::string const json_path_env_var = "CUFILE_ENV_PATH_JSON";
-  temp_directory tmp_config_dir{"cudf_cufile_config"};
+  static temp_directory tmp_config_dir{"cudf_cufile_config"};
 
   // Modify the config file based on the policy
   auto const config_file_path = getenv_or<std::string>(json_path_env_var, "/etc/cufile.json");
   std::ifstream user_config_file(config_file_path);
   // Modified config file is stored in a temporary directory
-  auto const cudf_config_path = tmp_config_dir.path() + "/cufile.json";
+  auto const cudf_config_path = tmp_config_dir.path() + "cufile.json";
   std::ofstream cudf_config_file(cudf_config_path);
 
   std::string line;