diff --git a/tests/base.py b/tests/base.py
index 4edfd86db..5b0cfe018 100644
--- a/tests/base.py
+++ b/tests/base.py
@@ -61,30 +61,38 @@ def __setup(self):
         #
         self._port = get_random_port()
         self._commands = ""
-        self._command = [
-            # fmt: off
-            self._gdb_path, "-q", "-nx",
-            "-ex", f"source {GEF_PATH}",
-            "-ex", "gef config gef.debug True",
-            "-ex", "gef config gef.propagate_debug_exception True",
-            "-ex", "gef config gef.disable_color True",
-            "-ex", f"source {RPYC_GEF_PATH}",
-            "-ex", f"pi start_rpyc_service({self._port})",
-            # fmt: on
-        ]
 
         if COVERAGE_DIR:
             self._coverage_file = pathlib.Path(COVERAGE_DIR) / os.getenv(
                 "PYTEST_XDIST_WORKER", "gw0"
             )
-            self._command.extend(("-ex",
-            f"""pi import coverage; cov = coverage.Coverage(data_file="{self._coverage_file}", auto_data=True, branch=True); cov.start()"""))
+            self._commands += f"""
+pi import coverage
+pi cov = coverage.Coverage(data_file="{self._coverage_file}", auto_data=True, branch=True)
+pi cov.start()
+"""
 
-        self._command.extend(
-            ("--",
-            str(self._target.absolute())  # type: ignore pylint: disable=E1101
-            )
-        )
+        self._commands += f"""
+source {GEF_PATH}
+gef config gef.debug True
+gef config gef.propagate_debug_exception True
+gef config gef.disable_color True
+source {RPYC_GEF_PATH}
+pi start_rpyc_service({self._port})
+"""
+
+        self._initfile = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode="w", delete=False)
+        self._initfile.write(self._commands)
+        self._initfile.flush()
+        self._command = [
+            "gdb",
+            "-q",
+            "-nx",
+            "-ex",
+            f"source {self._initfile.name}",
+            "--",
+            str(self._target.absolute()),  # type: ignore pylint: disable=E1101
+        ]
 
         self._process = subprocess.Popen(self._command)
         assert self._process.pid > 0