diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/dd-trace-java.configure-tests.gradle.kts b/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/dd-trace-java.configure-tests.gradle.kts
index d0060bbf278..23289cb08e6 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/dd-trace-java.configure-tests.gradle.kts
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/dd-trace-java.configure-tests.gradle.kts
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ tasks.withType<Test>().configureEach {
     !rootProject.providers.gradleProperty("rerun.tests.${project.name}").isPresent
   }
 
+  // Trick to avoid on CI: "Couldn't flush user prefs: java.util.prefs.BackingStoreException: Couldn't get file lock."
+  // Use a task-specific user prefs directory
+  systemProperty("java.util.prefs.userRoot", "$buildDir/tmp/userPrefs/${name}")
+
   // Split up tests that want to run forked in their own separate JVM for generated tasks
   if (name.startsWith("forkedTest") || name.endsWith("ForkedTest")) {
     setExcludes(emptyList())
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
index 31e4d6a67af..5cba421fb76 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/agent-ci-visibility/civisibility-test-fixtures/src/main/groovy/datadog/trace/civisibility/CiVisibilitySmokeTest.groovy
@@ -6,9 +6,13 @@ import datadog.trace.api.config.CiVisibilityConfig
 import datadog.trace.api.config.GeneralConfig
 import datadog.trace.api.config.TraceInstrumentationConfig
 import datadog.trace.api.config.TracerConfig
+import spock.lang.Shared
 import spock.lang.Specification
+import spock.lang.TempDir
 import spock.util.environment.Jvm
 
+import java.nio.file.Path
+
 import static datadog.trace.util.ConfigStrings.propertyNameToSystemPropertyName
 
 abstract class CiVisibilitySmokeTest extends Specification {
@@ -21,6 +25,13 @@ abstract class CiVisibilitySmokeTest extends Specification {
 
   private static final Map<String,String> DEFAULT_TRACER_CONFIG = defaultJvmArguments()
 
+  @TempDir
+  protected Path prefsDir
+
+  @Shared
+  @TempDir
+  protected Path prefsDirShared
+
   protected static String buildJavaHome() {
     if (Jvm.current.isJava8()) {
       return System.getenv("JAVA_8_HOME")
@@ -69,6 +80,12 @@ abstract class CiVisibilitySmokeTest extends Specification {
 
   protected List<String> buildJvmArguments(String mockBackendIntakeUrl, String serviceName, Map<String, String> additionalArgs) {
     List<String> arguments = []
+
+    // Trick to avoid on CI: "Couldn't flush user prefs: java.util.prefs.BackingStoreException: Couldn't get file lock."
+    // Some tests can setup arguments on spec level, so `prefsDir` will be `null` during `setupSpec()`.
+    String prefsPath = (prefsDir ?: prefsDirShared).toAbsolutePath()
+    arguments += "-Djava.util.prefs.userRoot=$prefsPath".toString()
+
     Map<String, String> argMap = buildJvmArgMap(mockBackendIntakeUrl, serviceName, additionalArgs)
 
     // for convenience when debugging locally