diff --git a/.github/actions/prepare-environment/action.yml b/.github/actions/prepare-environment/action.yml
index 18627d6a4..e23595052 100644
--- a/.github/actions/prepare-environment/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/prepare-environment/action.yml
@@ -52,4 +52,3 @@ runs:
         git config --global user.name 'graalvm bot'
         git config --global user.email 'graalvmbot@users.noreply.github.com'
         echo "org.ajoberstar.grgit.auth.command.allow=true" >> gradle.properties
-        mkdir -p ~/test with whitespaces/.m2 
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-native-maven-plugin.yml b/.github/workflows/test-native-maven-plugin.yml
index 874fcb9a1..3e13d60dd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-native-maven-plugin.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-native-maven-plugin.yml
@@ -68,30 +68,3 @@ jobs:
         with:
           name: maven-functional-tests-results-${{ matrix.os }}
           path: native-maven-plugin/build/reports/tests/
-
-  test-native-maven-plugin-with-whitespaces:
-      name: "🧪 Maven: ${{ matrix.test }} on ${{ matrix.os }}"
-      runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
-      timeout-minutes: 60
-      needs: populate-matrix
-      strategy:
-        fail-fast: false
-        matrix: ${{fromJson(needs.populate-matrix.outputs.matrix)}}
-      steps:
-        - name: "☁️ Checkout repository"
-          uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        - name: "🔧 Prepare environment"
-          uses: ./.github/actions/prepare-environment
-          with:
-            java-version: ${{ matrix.java-version }}
-            github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
-        - name: "Set .m2 location to a folder with whitespaces"
-          run: echo "MAVEN_OPTS=-Dmaven.repo.local=~/test with whitespaces/.m2" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-        - name: "❓ Check and test the plugin"
-          run: ./gradlew :native-maven-plugin:functionalTest --no-daemon --fail-fast --tests ${{ matrix.test }}
-        - name: "📜 Upload unit test results"
-          if: always()
-          uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
-          with:
-            name: maven-functional-tests-results-${{ matrix.os }}
-            path: native-maven-plugin/build/reports/tests/
diff --git a/native-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractNativeImageMojo.java b/native-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractNativeImageMojo.java
index 9404bdba0..c05e2f37e 100644
--- a/native-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractNativeImageMojo.java
+++ b/native-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractNativeImageMojo.java
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ protected List<String> getBuildArgs() throws MojoExecutionException {
         if (buildArgs != null && !buildArgs.isEmpty()) {
             for (String buildArg : buildArgs) {
                 if(buildArg.startsWith("\\Q") ||
-                        buildArg.startsWith("--H:ConfigurationFileDirectories")) {
+                        buildArg.startsWith("-H:ConfigurationFileDirectories")) {
                     cliArgs.add(buildArg);
                     continue;
                 }
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ protected List<String> getBuildArgs() throws MojoExecutionException {
                 int i=0;
                 while(i < args.length) {
                     String a =args[i];
-                    if (a.startsWith(""+System.getProperty("user.home").charAt(0))) {
+                    if (a.charAt(0) == System.getProperty("user.home").charAt(0)) {
                         StringBuilder path = new StringBuilder(a);
                         i++;
                         while( i< args.length && args[i].toLowerCase().charAt(0) <= 'z' &&
diff --git a/native-maven-plugin/src/testFixtures/groovy/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest.groovy b/native-maven-plugin/src/testFixtures/groovy/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest.groovy
index 00c593bc6..8bd27d470 100644
--- a/native-maven-plugin/src/testFixtures/groovy/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest.groovy
+++ b/native-maven-plugin/src/testFixtures/groovy/org/graalvm/buildtools/maven/AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest.groovy
@@ -49,12 +49,15 @@ import org.eclipse.jetty.server.handler.ResourceHandler
 import spock.lang.Specification
 import spock.lang.TempDir
 
+import java.nio.file.FileVisitResult
 import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.Path
+import java.nio.file.SimpleFileVisitor
 import java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption
+import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes
 
 abstract class AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest extends Specification {
-    @TempDir
+
     Path testDirectory
 
     Path testOrigin;
@@ -71,6 +74,13 @@ abstract class AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest extends Specification {
     boolean IS_MAC = System.getProperty("os.name", "unknown").contains("Mac");
 
     def setup() {
+        var home_dir = Path.of(System.getProperty("user.home"))
+        testDirectory = home_dir.resolve("tests")
+
+        if (Files.notExists(testDirectory)) {
+            Files.createDirectory(testDirectory)
+        }
+
         executor = new IsolatedMavenExecutor(
                 new File(System.getProperty("java.executable")),
                 testDirectory.resolve("m2-home").toFile(),
@@ -79,6 +89,21 @@ abstract class AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest extends Specification {
     }
 
     def cleanup() {
+
+        //cleanup test directory and all it's sub directories
+        Files.walkFileTree(testDirectory, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
+            @Override
+            FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
+                Files.delete(file);
+                return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+            }
+            @Override
+            FileVisitResult postVisitDirectory(Path dir, IOException exc) throws IOException {
+                Files.delete(dir);
+                return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
+            }
+        });
+
         if (server != null) {
             server.stop()
             server.destroy()
@@ -158,7 +183,7 @@ abstract class AbstractGraalVMMavenFunctionalTest extends Specification {
         var resultingSystemProperties = [
                 "common.repo.uri": System.getProperty("common.repo.uri"),
                 "seed.repo.uri": System.getProperty("seed.repo.uri"),
-                "maven.repo.local": testDirectory.resolve("local-repo").toFile().absolutePath
+                "maven.repo.local": testDirectory.resolve("local repo").toFile().absolutePath
         ]
         resultingSystemProperties.putAll(systemProperties)