diff --git a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
index 882b51f1..f699d854 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/run_tests.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - run: pwd
       - run: WD=`(cd ../../.. && pwd)` && export RAVEN_LIBS_NAME="raven_libs_"`basename $WD` && ./initalize_tests.sh
-      - run: >
+      - run: > # The overhead time added by checking coverage is currently about 19-23%. Reducing the frequency of coverage checks may be preferable if this increases.
           source raven/scripts/establish_conda_env.sh --load &&
           ./check_py_coverage.sh &&
           COV_PCT=`coverage report --format=total` &&
diff --git a/check_py_coverage.sh b/check_py_coverage.sh
index 0dc17ff4..bebeff6d 100755
--- a/check_py_coverage.sh
+++ b/check_py_coverage.sh
@@ -55,20 +55,18 @@ DISPLAY_VAR=`(echo $DISPLAY)`
 # reset it
 export DISPLAY=
 
-EXTRA="--rcfile=$SRC_DIR/../tests/.coveragerc --source=$SRC_DIR --parallel-mode"
+export COVERAGE_RCFILE="$SRC_DIR/../tests/.coveragerc" # all coverage commands should automatically reference this file now
+EXTRA="--source=$SRC_DIR --parallel-mode"
 export COVERAGE_FILE=`pwd`/.coverage
 
-coverage erase --rcfile="$SRC_DIR/../tests/.coveragerc"
-($SRC_DIR/../run_tests "$@" --python-command="coverage run $EXTRA " || echo run_test done but some tests failed)
+coverage erase
+($SRC_DIR/../run_tests "$@" --python-command="coverage run $EXTRA " || echo run_tests done but some tests failed)
 
 #get DISPLAY BACK
 DISPLAY=$DISPLAY_VAR
 
-## Go to the final directory and generate the html documents
-cd $SCRIPT_DIR/tests/
+## Prepare data and generate the html documents
 pwd
-rm -f .cov_dirs
-for FILE in `find . -name '.coverage.*'`; do dirname $FILE; done | sort | uniq > .cov_dirs
-coverage combine `cat .cov_dirs`
+coverage combine
 coverage html
 
diff --git a/run_tests b/run_tests
index f491a9da..3b4d3d24 100755
--- a/run_tests
+++ b/run_tests
@@ -75,17 +75,19 @@ FAILED=()
 echo
 echo "********************************************************************************"
 echo
-echo 'Running FORCE tests ...'
 
 case $TEST_SET in
     0)
-        TEST_DIR=tests/unit_tests
+        TEST_DIR=$SCRIPT_DIR/tests/unit_tests
+        echo Running FORCE unit tests from $TEST_DIR directory ...
         ;;
     1)
-        TEST_DIR=tests/integration_tests
+        TEST_DIR=$SCRIPT_DIR/tests/integration_tests
+        echo Running FORCE integration tests from $TEST_DIR directory ...
         ;;
     2)
-        TEST_DIR=tests
+        TEST_DIR=$SCRIPT_DIR/tests
+        echo Running FORCE unit and integration tests from $TEST_DIR directory ...
         ;;
 esac