diff --git a/IPython/core/tests/test_profile.py b/IPython/core/tests/test_profile.py
index e63fb3e..f18a064 100644
--- a/IPython/core/tests/test_profile.py
+++ b/IPython/core/tests/test_profile.py
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ Authors
 # Imports
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-import os
 import shutil
 import sys
 import tempfile
 
+from pathlib import Path
 from unittest import TestCase
 
 import nose.tools as nt
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ from IPython.utils.tempdir import TemporaryDirectory
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Globals
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-TMP_TEST_DIR = tempfile.mkdtemp()
-HOME_TEST_DIR = os.path.join(TMP_TEST_DIR, "home_test_dir")
-IP_TEST_DIR = os.path.join(HOME_TEST_DIR,'.ipython')
+TMP_TEST_DIR = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp())
+HOME_TEST_DIR = TMP_TEST_DIR / "home_test_dir"
+IP_TEST_DIR = HOME_TEST_DIR / ".ipython"
 
 #
 # Setup/teardown functions/decorators
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def setup_module():
     """
     # Do not mask exceptions here.  In particular, catching WindowsError is a
     # problem because that exception is only defined on Windows...
-    os.makedirs(IP_TEST_DIR)
+    (Path.cwd() / IP_TEST_DIR).mkdir(parents=True)
 
 
 def teardown_module():
@@ -84,10 +84,10 @@ def win32_without_pywin32():
 class ProfileStartupTest(TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         # create profile dir
-        self.pd = ProfileDir.create_profile_dir_by_name(IP_TEST_DIR, 'test')
-        self.options = ['--ipython-dir', IP_TEST_DIR, '--profile', 'test']
-        self.fname = os.path.join(TMP_TEST_DIR, 'test.py')
-        
+        self.pd = ProfileDir.create_profile_dir_by_name(IP_TEST_DIR, "test")
+        self.options = ["--ipython-dir", IP_TEST_DIR, "--profile", "test"]
+        self.fname = TMP_TEST_DIR / "test.py"
+
     def tearDown(self):
         # We must remove this profile right away so its presence doesn't
         # confuse other tests.
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ class ProfileStartupTest(TestCase):
 
     def init(self, startup_file, startup, test):
         # write startup python file
-        with open(os.path.join(self.pd.startup_dir, startup_file), 'w') as f:
+        with open(Path(self.pd.startup_dir) / startup_file, "w") as f:
             f.write(startup)
         # write simple test file, to check that the startup file was run
         with open(self.fname, 'w') as f:
@@ -118,13 +118,13 @@ class ProfileStartupTest(TestCase):
 def test_list_profiles_in():
     # No need to remove these directories and files, as they will get nuked in
     # the module-level teardown.
-    td = tempfile.mkdtemp(dir=TMP_TEST_DIR)
-    for name in ('profile_foo', 'profile_hello', 'not_a_profile'):
-        os.mkdir(os.path.join(td, name))
+    td = Path(tempfile.mkdtemp(dir=TMP_TEST_DIR))
+    for name in ("profile_foo", "profile_hello", "not_a_profile"):
+        Path(td / name).mkdir(parents=True)
     if dec.unicode_paths:
-        os.mkdir(os.path.join(td, u'profile_ünicode'))
-    
-    with open(os.path.join(td, 'profile_file'), 'w') as f:
+        Path(td / u"profile_ünicode").mkdir(parents=True)
+
+    with open(td / "profile_file", "w") as f:
         f.write("I am not a profile directory")
     profiles = list_profiles_in(td)
     
@@ -152,10 +152,19 @@ def test_list_bundled_profiles():
 def test_profile_create_ipython_dir():
     """ipython profile create respects --ipython-dir"""
     with TemporaryDirectory() as td:
-        getoutput([sys.executable, '-m', 'IPython', 'profile', 'create',
-             'foo', '--ipython-dir=%s' % td])
-        profile_dir = os.path.join(td, 'profile_foo')
-        assert os.path.exists(profile_dir)
-        ipython_config = os.path.join(profile_dir, 'ipython_config.py')
-        assert os.path.exists(ipython_config)
+        getoutput(
+            [
+                sys.executable,
+                "-m",
+                "IPython",
+                "profile",
+                "create",
+                "foo",
+                "--ipython-dir=%s" % td,
+            ]
+        )
+        profile_dir = Path(td) / "profile_foo"
+        assert Path(profile_dir).exists()
+        ipython_config = profile_dir / "ipython_config.py"
+        assert Path(ipython_config).exists()