diff --git a/ydb/tests/library/harness/daemon.py b/ydb/tests/library/harness/daemon.py
index 9bc5fa11ccb2..aa36adbfd8dd 100644
--- a/ydb/tests/library/harness/daemon.py
+++ b/ydb/tests/library/harness/daemon.py
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ def __init__(
         command,
         cwd,
         timeout,
-        stdout_file,
-        stderr_file,
+        stdout_file="/dev/null",
+        stderr_file="/dev/null",
         stderr_on_error_lines=0,
         core_pattern=None,
     ):
diff --git a/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_config.py b/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_config.py
index 006ea21f2e64..862698891a7b 100644
--- a/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_config.py
+++ b/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_config.py
@@ -220,7 +220,12 @@ def __init__(
 
         self.__dynamic_pdisks = dynamic_pdisks
 
-        self.__working_dir = output_path or yatest.common.test_output_path()
+        try:
+            test_path = yatest.common.test_output_path()
+        except Exception:
+            test_path = os.path.abspath("kikimr_working_dir")
+
+        self.__working_dir = output_path or test_path
 
         if not os.path.isdir(self.__working_dir):
             os.makedirs(self.__working_dir)
diff --git a/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_runner.py b/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_runner.py
index a044a023d641..04a9c34be7cb 100644
--- a/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_runner.py
+++ b/ydb/tests/library/harness/kikimr_runner.py
@@ -24,6 +24,20 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def get_unique_path_for_current_test(output_path, sub_folder):
+    # TODO: remove current function, don't rely on test environment, use explicit paths
+    # we can't remove it now, because it is used in Arcadia
+    import yatest.common
+    import os
+    try:
+        test_name = yatest.common.context.test_name or ""
+    except Exception:
+        test_name = ""
+
+    test_name = test_name.replace(':', '_')
+    return os.path.join(output_path, test_name, sub_folder)
+
+
 def ensure_path_exists(path):
     # NOTE: can't switch to os.makedirs(path, exist_ok=True) as some tests
     # are still running under python2 (exist_ok was added in py3.2)