diff --git a/internal/tmpdir/tmpdir.go b/internal/tmpdir/tmpdir.go
index 9cfde4e72c4..b33b0fee2c7 100644
--- a/internal/tmpdir/tmpdir.go
+++ b/internal/tmpdir/tmpdir.go
@@ -17,10 +17,8 @@ func GetTempDir() string {
 		}
 		logrus.Warnf("ignoring TMPDIR from environment, evaluating it: %v", err)
 	}
-	containerConfig, err := config.Default()
-	if err != nil {
-		tmpdir, err := containerConfig.ImageCopyTmpDir()
-		if err != nil {
+	if containerConfig, err := config.Default(); err == nil {
+		if tmpdir, err := containerConfig.ImageCopyTmpDir(); err == nil {
 			return tmpdir
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/internal/tmpdir/tmpdir_test.go b/internal/tmpdir/tmpdir_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3da9048afdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/tmpdir/tmpdir_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package tmpdir
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/containers/common/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestGetTempDir(t *testing.T) {
+	// test default
+	err := os.Unsetenv("TMPDIR")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	err = os.Setenv("CONTAINERS_CONF", "/dev/null")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	tmpdir := GetTempDir()
+	assert.Equal(t, "/var/tmp", tmpdir)
+
+	// test TMPDIR Environment
+	err = os.Setenv("TMPDIR", "/tmp/bogus")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	tmpdir = GetTempDir()
+	assert.Equal(t, tmpdir, "/tmp/bogus")
+	err = os.Unsetenv("TMPDIR")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	f, err := os.CreateTemp("", "containers.conf-")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	// close and remove the temporary file at the end of the program
+	defer f.Close()
+	defer os.Remove(f.Name())
+	data := []byte("[engine]\nimage_copy_tmp_dir=\"/mnt\"\n")
+	_, err = f.Write(data)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	err = os.Setenv("CONTAINERS_CONF", f.Name())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	// force config reset of default containers.conf
+	options := config.Options{
+		SetDefault: true,
+	}
+	_, err = config.New(&options)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	tmpdir = GetTempDir()
+	assert.Equal(t, "/mnt", tmpdir)
+
+}