diff --git a/src/luamb/_entrypoint.py b/src/luamb/_entrypoint.py
index a774971..82fb992 100644
--- a/src/luamb/_entrypoint.py
+++ b/src/luamb/_entrypoint.py
@@ -1,12 +1,18 @@
 import sys
 
+from luamb._datadirs import ENVS_DIR
+
 
 def main():
     # This part should execute as fast as possible so as not to slow down
     # shell startup. For this reason we do not use ArgumentParser here and
     # do not import anything on module level except for some standard modules.
     if len(sys.argv) == 2 and sys.argv[1] == 'shellsrc':
+        import shlex
+
         from luamb._shell import shellsrc
+
+        print(f'__luamb_envs_dir={shlex.quote(str(ENVS_DIR))}')
         print(shellsrc)
         sys.exit()
 
@@ -17,7 +23,6 @@ def error(msg, exit_status=1):
 
     import os
 
-    from ._datadirs import ENVS_DIR
     from ._exceptions import LuambException
     from ._hererocks import import_hererocks
     from ._luamb import Luamb
diff --git a/src/luamb/_shell.py b/src/luamb/_shell.py
index 2e7313e..1638abf 100644
--- a/src/luamb/_shell.py
+++ b/src/luamb/_shell.py
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 #       The renamed original 'deactivate-lua'.
 #       Unset if no active environment.
 
+declare __luamb_envs_dir > /dev/null
+
 
 __luamb_check_exists() {
     type "$@" > /dev/null 2>&1
@@ -72,7 +74,7 @@
     local env_name=$1
     __luamb_check_env_name "$env_name" || return 1
     local env_path
-    env_path=$($__luamb_readlink -e "$LUAMB_DIR/$env_name")
+    env_path=$($__luamb_readlink -e "$__luamb_envs_dir/$env_name")
     if [ ! -d "$env_path" ]; then
         echo "environment doesn't exist: $env_name"
         return 1
@@ -138,11 +140,6 @@
 }
 
 
-if [ -z "$LUAMB_DIR" ]; then
-    echo "LUAMB_DIR variable not set"
-    return 1
-fi
-
 if [ "$(uname)" = "Darwin" ]; then
     __luamb_readlink="greadlink"
     if ! __luamb_check_exists $__luamb_readlink; then
@@ -168,7 +165,8 @@
                                  ls list"
                 ;;
             on|enable|activate|rm|remove|del|delete|info|show)
-                COMPLETION_OPTS=$(find "$LUAMB_DIR" -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 \
+                COMPLETION_OPTS=$(find "$__luamb_envs_dir" \
+                                  -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 \
                                   -type d -printf "%f ")
                 ;;
             *)
diff --git a/tests/shell/conftest.py b/tests/shell/conftest.py
index a495777..06f8c5e 100644
--- a/tests/shell/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/shell/conftest.py
@@ -53,15 +53,15 @@ def shellsrc_path(tmp_path_factory):
     return str(path)
 
 
-@pytest.fixture()
-def luamb_dir(tmp_path):
-    return str(tmp_path / 'luambenvs')
+@pytest.fixture
+def envs_dir(tmp_path):
+    return str(tmp_path / 'envs')
 
 
-@pytest.fixture()
-def script_runner(request, shellsrc_path, luamb_dir):
+@pytest.fixture
+def script_runner(request, shellsrc_path, envs_dir):
     return ScriptRunner(
         shell=request.param,
         shellsrc_path=shellsrc_path,
-        luamb_dir=luamb_dir,
+        envs_dir=envs_dir,
     )
diff --git a/tests/shell/lib.py b/tests/shell/lib.py
index a0856d3..e61b2b3 100644
--- a/tests/shell/lib.py
+++ b/tests/shell/lib.py
@@ -77,11 +77,11 @@ class ScriptRunner(object):
     _proc = None
     _output = None
 
-    def __init__(self, shell, shellsrc_path, luamb_dir):
+    def __init__(self, shell, shellsrc_path, envs_dir):
         self._shell = shell
         self._shellsrc_path = shellsrc_path
         self._env = {
-            'LUAMB_DIR': luamb_dir,
+            '__luamb_envs_dir': envs_dir,
         }
 
     def __call__(self, script):
diff --git a/tests/shell/test_shell.py b/tests/shell/test_shell.py
index f7419fc..6c962b8 100644
--- a/tests/shell/test_shell.py
+++ b/tests/shell/test_shell.py
@@ -1,30 +1,43 @@
 import pytest
 
 
-def test_shellsrc(script_runner):
+def test_script_itself(script_runner):
     exit_status = script_runner('')
+
+    assert exit_status == 0
+    assert script_runner.output == ''
+
+
+def test_envs_dir(script_runner, envs_dir):
+    exit_status = script_runner('echo $__luamb_envs_dir')
+
+    assert exit_status == 0
+    assert script_runner.output == envs_dir
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('env_name', [
+    '...',
+    'foo',
+    'foo bar',
+])
+def test_check_env_name_valid(script_runner, env_name):
+    exit_status = script_runner(f"__luamb_check_env_name '{env_name}'")
+
     assert exit_status == 0
     assert script_runner.output == ''
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize('env_name,is_valid', [
-    ('', False),
-    ('.', False),
-    ('..', False),
-    ('foo/bar', False),
-    ('/foo', False),
-    ('foo/', False),
-    ('/', False),
-    ('...', True),
-    ('foo', True),
-    ('foo bar', True),
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('env_name', [
+    '',
+    '.',
+    '..',
+    'foo/bar',
+    '/foo',
+    'foo/',
+    '/',
 ])
-def test_check_env_name(script_runner, env_name, is_valid):
-    exit_status = script_runner("__luamb_check_env_name '{}'".format(env_name))
-    output = script_runner.output
-    if is_valid:
-        assert exit_status == 0
-        assert output == ''
-    else:
-        assert exit_status != 0
-        assert output == "invalid env name: '{}'".format(env_name)
+def test_check_env_name_invalid(script_runner, env_name):
+    exit_status = script_runner(f"__luamb_check_env_name '{env_name}'")
+
+    assert exit_status != 0
+    assert script_runner.output == f"invalid env name: '{env_name}'"