diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index cc4aaa6ad..717c19b2e 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ Stefan Zimmermann
 Stefano Taschini
 Steffen Allner
 Stephan Obermann
+Tarcisio Fischer
 Tareq Alayan
 Ted Xiao
 Thomas Grainger
diff --git a/_pytest/pytester.py b/_pytest/pytester.py
index fc9b8d9cb..573640014 100644
--- a/_pytest/pytester.py
+++ b/_pytest/pytester.py
@@ -412,16 +412,8 @@ class Testdir:
     def __init__(self, request, tmpdir_factory):
         self.request = request
         self._mod_collections = WeakKeyDictionary()
-        # XXX remove duplication with tmpdir plugin
-        basetmp = tmpdir_factory.ensuretemp("testdir")
         name = request.function.__name__
-        for i in range(100):
-            try:
-                tmpdir = basetmp.mkdir(name + str(i))
-            except py.error.EEXIST:
-                continue
-            break
-        self.tmpdir = tmpdir
+        self.tmpdir = tmpdir_factory.mktemp(name, numbered=True)
         self.plugins = []
         self._savesyspath = (list(sys.path), list(sys.meta_path))
         self._savemodulekeys = set(sys.modules)
diff --git a/changelog/2751.bugfix b/changelog/2751.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76004a653
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/2751.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+``testdir`` now uses use the same method used by ``tmpdir`` to create its temporary directory. This changes the final structure of the ``testdir`` directory slightly, but should not affect usage in normal scenarios and avoids a number of potential problems.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/testing/test_collection.py b/testing/test_collection.py
index 5d1654410..ab0c93bae 100644
--- a/testing/test_collection.py
+++ b/testing/test_collection.py
@@ -569,7 +569,6 @@ class Test_getinitialnodes(object):
         col = testdir.getnode(config, x)
         assert isinstance(col, pytest.Module)
         assert col.name == 'x.py'
-        assert col.parent.name == testdir.tmpdir.basename
         assert col.parent.parent is None
         for col in col.listchain():
             assert col.config is config