diff --git a/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/tests/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/tests/default.nix
index 9152d93c15444..14d682e14e431 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/tests/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/editors/neovim/tests/default.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
-# run tests by building `neovim.tests`
+/*
+run tests with `nix-build -A neovim.tests`
+
+The attrset exposes both the wrapped neovim and the associated test for easier debugging
+
+Here are some common neovim flags used in the tests:
+-e runs neovim in `:h Ex-mode` which returns an exit code != 0 when hitting an error
+-i NONE  gets rid of shada warnings
+
+*/
 { vimUtils, writeText, neovim, vimPlugins
 , neovimUtils, wrapNeovimUnstable
 , neovim-unwrapped
@@ -43,7 +52,7 @@ let
     '';
   };
 
-  nvim-with-luasnip = wrapNeovim2 "-with-lua-packages" (makeNeovimConfig {
+  nvim-with-luasnip = wrapNeovim2 "-with-luasnip" (makeNeovimConfig {
     plugins = [ {
         plugin = vimPlugins.luasnip;
 
@@ -65,15 +74,6 @@ let
     sha256 = "1ykcvyx82nhdq167kbnpgwkgjib8ii7c92y3427v986n2s5lsskc";
   };
 
-  # this plugin checks that it's ftplugin/vim.tex is loaded before $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/vim.tex
-  # $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/vim.tex sources $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/initex.vim which sets b:did_ftplugin
-  # we save b:did_ftplugin's value in a `plugin_was_loaded_too_late` file
-  texFtplugin = (pkgs.runCommandLocal "tex-ftplugin" {} ''
-    mkdir -p $out/ftplugin
-    echo 'call system("echo ". exists("b:did_ftplugin") . " > plugin_was_loaded_too_late")' >> $out/ftplugin/tex.vim
-    echo ':q!' >> $out/ftplugin/tex.vim
-  '') // { pname = "test-ftplugin"; };
-
   # neovim-drv must be a wrapped neovim
   runTest = neovim-drv: buildCommand:
     runCommandLocal "test-${neovim-drv.name}" ({
@@ -81,18 +81,21 @@ let
       meta.platforms = neovim-drv.meta.platforms;
     }) (''
       source ${nmt}/bash-lib/assertions.sh
-      vimrc="${writeText "init.vim" neovim-drv.initRc}"
-      luarc="${writeText "init.lua" neovim-drv.luaRcContent}"
+      vimrc="${writeText "test-${neovim-drv.name}-init.vim" neovim-drv.initRc}"
+      luarc="${writeText "test-${neovim-drv.name}-init.lua" neovim-drv.luaRcContent}"
       luarcGeneric="$out/patched.lua"
       vimrcGeneric="$out/patched.vim"
       mkdir $out
+      export HOME=$TMPDIR
       ${pkgs.perl}/bin/perl -pe "s|\Q$NIX_STORE\E/[a-z0-9]{32}-|$NIX_STORE/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-|g" < "$vimrc" > "$vimrcGeneric"
       ${pkgs.perl}/bin/perl -pe "s|\Q$NIX_STORE\E/[a-z0-9]{32}-|$NIX_STORE/eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-|g" < "$luarc" > "$luarcGeneric"
     '' + buildCommand);
 
 in
-  pkgs.recurseIntoAttrs (
-rec {
+  pkgs.recurseIntoAttrs (rec {
+
+  inherit nmt;
+
   vim_empty_config = vimUtils.vimrcFile { beforePlugins = ""; customRC = ""; };
 
   ### neovim tests
@@ -138,11 +141,21 @@ rec {
   };
 
   run_nvim_with_plug = runTest nvim_with_plug ''
-    export HOME=$TMPDIR
-    ${nvim_with_plug}/bin/nvim -i NONE -c 'color base16-tomorrow-night'  +quit! -e
+    ${nvim_with_plug}/bin/nvim -V3log.txt -i NONE -c 'color base16-tomorrow-night'  +quit! -e
   '';
 
-  nvim_with_ftplugin = neovim.override {
+  nvim_with_ftplugin = let
+    # this plugin checks that it's ftplugin/vim.tex is loaded before $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/vim.tex
+    # $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/vim.tex sources $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/initex.vim which sets b:did_ftplugin
+    # we save b:did_ftplugin's value in a `plugin_was_loaded_too_late` file
+    texFtplugin = (pkgs.runCommandLocal "tex-ftplugin" {} ''
+      mkdir -p $out/ftplugin
+      echo 'call system("echo ". exists("b:did_ftplugin") . " > plugin_was_loaded_too_late")' >> $out/ftplugin/tex.vim
+      echo ':q!' >> $out/ftplugin/tex.vim
+    '') // { pname = "test-ftplugin"; };
+    in
+
+    neovim.override {
     extraName = "-with-ftplugin";
     configure.packages.plugins = {
       start = [
@@ -154,13 +167,14 @@ rec {
   # regression test that ftplugin files from plugins are loaded before the ftplugin
   # files from $VIMRUNTIME
   run_nvim_with_ftplugin = runTest nvim_with_ftplugin ''
-    export HOME=$TMPDIR
     echo '\documentclass{article}' > main.tex
 
-    ${nvim_with_ftplugin}/bin/nvim main.tex -c "set ft?" -c quit
+    ${nvim_with_ftplugin}/bin/nvim -i NONE -V3log.txt main.tex -c "set ft?" -c quit
     ls -l $TMPDIR
-    # if the file exists, then our plugin has been loaded instead of neovim's
-    [ ! -f plugin_was_loaded_too_late ]
+    # check the saved value b:did_ftplugin then our plugin has been loaded instead of neovim's
+    result="$(cat plugin_was_loaded_too_late)"
+    echo $result
+    [ "$result" = 0 ]
   '';
 
 
@@ -191,8 +205,8 @@ rec {
       ];
     };
   };
+
   checkHelpLuaPackages = runTest nvim_with_gitsigns_plugin ''
-    export HOME=$TMPDIR
     ${nvim_with_gitsigns_plugin}/bin/nvim -i NONE -c 'help gitsigns' +quitall! -e
   '';
 
@@ -220,8 +234,8 @@ rec {
 
   checkAliases = runTest nvim_with_aliases ''
       folder=${nvim_with_aliases}/bin
-      assertFileExists "$folder/vi"
-      assertFileExists "$folder/vim"
+      assertFileIsExecutable "$folder/vi"
+      assertFileIsExecutable "$folder/vim"
   '';
 
   # having no RC generated should autodisable init.vim wrapping
@@ -247,8 +261,7 @@ rec {
   });
 
   nvim_with_lua_packages = runTest nvimWithLuaPackages ''
-    export HOME=$TMPDIR
-    ${nvimWithLuaPackages}/bin/nvim -i NONE --noplugin -es
+    ${nvimWithLuaPackages}/bin/nvim -V3log.txt -i NONE --noplugin +quitall! -e
   '';
 
   # nixpkgs should install optional packages in the opt folder
@@ -286,7 +299,6 @@ rec {
   };
 
   run_nvim_with_opt_plugin = runTest nvim_with_opt_plugin ''
-    export HOME=$TMPDIR
     ${nvim_with_opt_plugin}/bin/nvim -i NONE +quit! -e
   '';
 
@@ -296,9 +308,8 @@ rec {
   # for instance luasnip has a dependency on jsregexp
   can_require_transitive_deps =
     runTest nvim-with-luasnip ''
-    export HOME=$TMPDIR
     cat ${nvim-with-luasnip}/bin/nvim
-    ${nvim-with-luasnip}/bin/nvim -i NONE --cmd "lua require'jsregexp'" -e
+    ${nvim-with-luasnip}/bin/nvim -i NONE --cmd "lua require'jsregexp'" -e +quitall!
   '';
 
 })