diff --git a/autotest/pytest.ini b/autotest/pytest.ini
index 93b6f6d..73fd077 100644
--- a/autotest/pytest.ini
+++ b/autotest/pytest.ini
@@ -4,5 +4,5 @@ python_files =
     test_*.py
     *_test*.py
 markers =
-    slow: tests that don't complete in a few seconds
+    slow: tests not completing in a few seconds
     meta: run by other tests (e.g. testing fixtures)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/autotest/test_executables.py b/autotest/test_executables.py
index ed2369b..7d55a27 100644
--- a/autotest/test_executables.py
+++ b/autotest/test_executables.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 from modflow_devtools.executables import Executables
-from modflow_devtools.misc import get_suffixes, add_sys_path
+from modflow_devtools.misc import add_sys_path, get_suffixes
 
 ext, _ = get_suffixes(sys.platform)
 exe_stem = "pytest"
@@ -24,15 +24,3 @@ def exes():
 def test_access(exes):
     # support both attribute and dictionary style access
     assert exes.pytest == exes["pytest"] == exe_path
-
-
-def test_get_version(exes):
-    ver_str = Executables.get_version(exes.pytest)
-    version = (
-        subprocess.check_output([f"{exes.pytest}", "-v"])
-        .decode("utf-8")
-        .split(":")[1]
-        .strip()
-    )
-    assert ver_str == version
-    assert int(ver_str[0].split(".")[0]) >= 6
diff --git a/autotest/test_fixtures.py b/autotest/test_fixtures.py
index 32d0f46..f959d0c 100644
--- a/autotest/test_fixtures.py
+++ b/autotest/test_fixtures.py
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ def test_keep_class_scoped_tmpdir(tmp_path, arg):
         TestKeepClassScopedTmpdirInner.test_keep_class_scoped_tmpdir_inner.__name__,
         "-M",
         "test_keep",
-        "-K",
+        arg,
         tmp_path,
     ]
     assert pytest.main(args) == ExitCode.OK
@@ -160,19 +160,14 @@ def test_keep_module_scoped_tmpdir(tmp_path, arg):
         test_keep_module_scoped_tmpdir_inner.__name__,
         "-M",
         "test_keep",
-        "-K",
+        arg,
         tmp_path,
     ]
     assert pytest.main(args) == ExitCode.OK
     this_path = Path(__file__)
     keep_path = (
-        tmp_path
-        / f"{str(this_path.parent.parent.name)}.{str(this_path.parent.name)}.{str(this_path.stem)}0"
+        tmp_path / f"{str(this_path.parent.name)}.{str(this_path.stem)}0"
     )
-    from pprint import pprint
-
-    print(keep_path)
-    pprint(list(keep_path.glob("*")))
     assert test_keep_fname in [f.name for f in keep_path.glob("*")]
 
 
@@ -186,7 +181,7 @@ def test_keep_session_scoped_tmpdir(tmp_path, arg, request):
         test_keep_session_scoped_tmpdir_inner.__name__,
         "-M",
         "test_keep",
-        "-K",
+        arg,
         tmp_path,
     ]
     assert pytest.main(args) == ExitCode.OK
diff --git a/autotest/test_zip.py b/autotest/test_zip.py
index bc72ef2..070b9c4 100644
--- a/autotest/test_zip.py
+++ b/autotest/test_zip.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def empty_archive(module_tmpdir) -> Path:
     path = module_tmpdir / "empty.zip"
     with open(path, "wb") as zip:
         zip.write(data)
-    return path
+    yield path
 
 
 def test_extractall_empty(empty_archive, function_tmpdir):
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def archive(module_tmpdir) -> Path:
         zip = MFZipFile(zip_path.name, "w")
         zip.write(exe_path.name, compress_type=zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)
         zip.close()
-    return zip_path
+    yield zip_path
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("mf", [True, False])
diff --git a/docs/md/executables.md b/docs/md/executables.md
index d235cc5..cfc8d79 100644
--- a/docs/md/executables.md
+++ b/docs/md/executables.md
@@ -29,14 +29,3 @@ def test_targets(targets):
     # attribute- and dictionary-style access is supported
     assert targets["mf6"] == targets.mf6
 ```
-
-There is also a convenience function for getting a program's version string. The function will automatically strip the program name from the output (assumed delimited with `:`).
-
-```python
-import subprocess
-
-def test_executables_version(targets):
-    # returns e.g. '6.4.1 Release 12/09/2022'
-    assert targets.get_version(targets.mf6) == \  
-           subprocess.check_output([f"{targets.mf6}", "-v"]).decode('utf-8').strip().split(":")[1].strip()
-```
diff --git a/modflow_devtools/executables.py b/modflow_devtools/executables.py
index 28c966d..9ec0370 100644
--- a/modflow_devtools/executables.py
+++ b/modflow_devtools/executables.py
@@ -1,10 +1,6 @@
-import sys
-from os import PathLike
 from pathlib import Path
 from types import SimpleNamespace
-from typing import Dict, Optional
-
-from modflow_devtools.misc import get_suffixes, run_cmd
+from typing import Dict
 
 
 class Executables(SimpleNamespace):
@@ -27,14 +23,3 @@ def as_dict(self) -> Dict[str, Path]:
         """
 
         return self.__dict__.copy()
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def get_version(path: PathLike = None, flag: str = "-v") -> Optional[str]:
-        """Get an executable's version string."""
-
-        out, err, ret = run_cmd(str(path), flag)
-        if ret == 0:
-            out = "".join(out).strip()
-            return out.split(":")[1].strip()
-        else:
-            return None
diff --git a/pytest.ini b/pytest.ini
deleted file mode 100644
index 2d20b03..0000000
--- a/pytest.ini
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-[pytest]
-addopts = -ra --color=yes
-python_files =
-    test_*.py
-    *_test*.py
-markers =
-    slow: "tests that don't complete in a few seconds"
-    meta: "tests run by other tests (e.g. to test fixtures)"
\ No newline at end of file