diff --git a/kiwi/bootloader/config/__init__.py b/kiwi/bootloader/config/__init__.py
index daa651f9fb9..db94efd8259 100644
--- a/kiwi/bootloader/config/__init__.py
+++ b/kiwi/bootloader/config/__init__.py
@@ -15,13 +15,8 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with kiwi.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>
 #
-import sys
-from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Dict, Union, overload
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Dict, Literal, Union, overload
 
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import Literal  # pragma: no cover
-else:  # pragma: no cover
-    from typing_extensions import Literal  # pragma: no cover
 
 from kiwi.exceptions import (
     KiwiBootLoaderConfigSetupError
diff --git a/kiwi/builder/disk.py b/kiwi/builder/disk.py
index 5c7b9a07bc4..d7443f089e7 100644
--- a/kiwi/builder/disk.py
+++ b/kiwi/builder/disk.py
@@ -17,15 +17,8 @@
 #
 from contextlib import ExitStack
 import os
-import sys
 import logging
-from typing import (
-    Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
-)
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import TypedDict  # pragma: no cover
-else:  # pragma: no cover
-    from typing_extensions import TypedDict  # pragma: no cover
+from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, TypedDict, Union
 
 # project
 import kiwi.defaults as defaults
diff --git a/kiwi/command.py b/kiwi/command.py
index 54e857e326c..c6242ce7a23 100644
--- a/kiwi/command.py
+++ b/kiwi/command.py
@@ -15,17 +15,11 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 # along with kiwi.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>
 #
-from typing import IO, Callable, List, MutableMapping, NamedTuple, Optional, overload
+from typing import IO, Callable, Literal, List, MutableMapping, NamedTuple, Optional, overload
 import logging
 import os
 import select
 import subprocess
-import sys
-
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import Literal  # pragma: no cover
-else:  # pragma: no cover
-    from typing_extensions import Literal  # pragma: no cover
 
 # project
 from kiwi.utils.codec import Codec
diff --git a/kiwi/container/oci.py b/kiwi/container/oci.py
index 34405cb475e..22ae5aa15df 100644
--- a/kiwi/container/oci.py
+++ b/kiwi/container/oci.py
@@ -17,12 +17,7 @@
 #
 import os
 import logging
-import sys
-from typing import Dict, List, Optional
-if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):
-    from typing import TypedDict  # pragma: no cover
-else:  # pragma: no cover
-    from typing_extensions import TypedDict  # pragma: no cover
+from typing import Dict, List, Optional, TypedDict
 
 # project
 from kiwi.utils.compress import Compress
diff --git a/kiwi/system/root_import/oci.py b/kiwi/system/root_import/oci.py
index 86ac55a5603..9824efa98a1 100644
--- a/kiwi/system/root_import/oci.py
+++ b/kiwi/system/root_import/oci.py
@@ -101,11 +101,7 @@ def _get_image_urls(self) -> List[str]:
                     uncompressed_image = compressor.uncompressed_filename
                 else:
                     uncompressed_image = image_file
-                image_urls.append(
-                    '{0}:{1}'.format(
-                        self.archive_transport, uncompressed_image
-                    )
-                )
+                image_urls.append(f"{self.archive_transport}:{uncompressed_image}")
             return image_urls
         else:
             log.warning('Bypassing base image URI to OCI tools')
diff --git a/test/unit/conftest.py b/test/unit/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f52df51e94d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+def dont_use_kiwi_yml_from_host(
+    request: pytest.FixtureRequest, monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch
+) -> None:
+    """kiwi will by default read runtime config files, which influence which
+    utilities get chosen. The users config file leaks into the test environment,
+    which is undesirable as certain tests assume that the default tool is XYZ
+    and assert that. This fixture prevents the loading of the runtime config
+    files by setting all paths to falsy values that hence are ignored.
+
+    This behavior can be turned off by adding the ``no_kiwi_yml_mock`` marker.
+
+    """
+    if request.node.get_closest_marker("no_kiwi_yml_mock"):
+        return
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("kiwi.defaults.ETC_RUNTIME_CONFIG_DIR", "")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("kiwi.defaults.ETC_RUNTIME_CONFIG_FILE", "")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("kiwi.defaults.USR_RUNTIME_CONFIG_DIR", "")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("kiwi.defaults.USR_RUNTIME_CONFIG_FILE", "")
+    monkeypatch.setattr("kiwi.defaults.CUSTOM_RUNTIME_CONFIG_FILE", None)
diff --git a/test/unit/runtime_config_test.py b/test/unit/runtime_config_test.py
index d57bdfad985..07588fe1a20 100644
--- a/test/unit/runtime_config_test.py
+++ b/test/unit/runtime_config_test.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from pytest import (
     raises, fixture
 )
+import pytest
 
 from kiwi.runtime_config import RuntimeConfig
 from kiwi.defaults import Defaults
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ def test_reading_custom_config_file(self, mock_yaml):
                     ]
                 )
 
+    @pytest.mark.no_kiwi_yml_mock
     @patch('os.path.exists')
     @patch('yaml.safe_load')
     @patch('os.path.isdir')
@@ -82,6 +84,7 @@ def os_path_isdir(config):
                 call('/etc/kiwi.yml.d/some.yml', 'r')
             ]
 
+    @pytest.mark.no_kiwi_yml_mock
     @patch('os.path.exists')
     @patch('yaml.safe_load')
     @patch('os.path.isdir')