diff --git a/tools/testing/kunit/kunit.py b/tools/testing/kunit/kunit.py
index 425ef40067e7..e2caf4e24ecb 100755
--- a/tools/testing/kunit/kunit.py
+++ b/tools/testing/kunit/kunit.py
@@ -237,9 +237,13 @@ def main(argv, linux=None):
 
 	cli_args = parser.parse_args(argv)
 
+	if get_kernel_root_path():
+		os.chdir(get_kernel_root_path())
+
 	if cli_args.subcommand == 'run':
 		if not os.path.exists(cli_args.build_dir):
 			os.mkdir(cli_args.build_dir)
+			create_default_kunitconfig()
 
 		if not linux:
 			linux = kunit_kernel.LinuxSourceTree()
@@ -257,6 +261,7 @@ def main(argv, linux=None):
 		if cli_args.build_dir:
 			if not os.path.exists(cli_args.build_dir):
 				os.mkdir(cli_args.build_dir)
+				create_default_kunitconfig()
 
 		if not linux:
 			linux = kunit_kernel.LinuxSourceTree()
@@ -270,10 +275,6 @@ def main(argv, linux=None):
 		if result.status != KunitStatus.SUCCESS:
 			sys.exit(1)
 	elif cli_args.subcommand == 'build':
-		if cli_args.build_dir:
-			if not os.path.exists(cli_args.build_dir):
-				os.mkdir(cli_args.build_dir)
-
 		if not linux:
 			linux = kunit_kernel.LinuxSourceTree()
 
@@ -288,10 +289,6 @@ def main(argv, linux=None):
 		if result.status != KunitStatus.SUCCESS:
 			sys.exit(1)
 	elif cli_args.subcommand == 'exec':
-		if cli_args.build_dir:
-			if not os.path.exists(cli_args.build_dir):
-				os.mkdir(cli_args.build_dir)
-
 		if not linux:
 			linux = kunit_kernel.LinuxSourceTree()