diff --git a/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/ipc_lib.gyp b/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/ipc_lib.gyp
index 617b203..af9d779 100644
--- a/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/ipc_lib.gyp
+++ b/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/ipc_lib.gyp
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
         'core_lib',
         '<(AOS)/common/common.gyp:queue_testutils',
         '<(AOS)/common/common.gyp:time',
+        '<(AOS)/common/common.gyp:die',
       ],
     },
     {
diff --git a/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/queue_test.cc b/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/queue_test.cc
index 9e5f3ae..dda40af 100644
--- a/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/queue_test.cc
+++ b/aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/queue_test.cc
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "aos/common/queue_testutils.h"
 #include "aos/common/time.h"
 #include "aos/common/logging/logging.h"
+#include "aos/common/die.h"
 
 using ::testing::AssertionResult;
 using ::testing::AssertionSuccess;
@@ -136,6 +137,9 @@
 
   void SetUp() override {
     ::testing::Test::SetUp();
+
+    SetDieTestMode(true);
+
     fatal_failure = static_cast<char *>(shm_malloc(sizeof(fatal_failure)));
     static bool registered = false;
     if (!registered) {
diff --git a/aos/common/common.gyp b/aos/common/common.gyp
index f3b4e69..f73f1f6 100644
--- a/aos/common/common.gyp
+++ b/aos/common/common.gyp
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@
         'queue_testutils',
         'queue_test_queue',
         '<(AOS)/common/util/util.gyp:thread',
+        'die',
       ],
     },
     {
@@ -272,6 +273,7 @@
         '<(EXTERNALS):gtest',
         'mutex',
         '<(AOS)/build/aos.gyp:logging',
+        'die',
       ],
     },
     {
@@ -289,6 +291,7 @@
         '<(AOS)/build/aos.gyp:logging',
         'queue_testutils',
         '<(AOS)/atom_code/ipc_lib/ipc_lib.gyp:core_lib',
+        'die',
        ],
     },
     {
diff --git a/aos/common/condition_test.cc b/aos/common/condition_test.cc
index fca2820..7e74918 100644
--- a/aos/common/condition_test.cc
+++ b/aos/common/condition_test.cc
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #include "aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/core_lib.h"
 #include "aos/common/logging/logging.h"
 #include "aos/common/macros.h"
+#include "aos/common/die.h"
 
 using ::aos::time::Time;
 using ::aos::common::testing::GlobalCoreInstance;
@@ -43,6 +44,11 @@
     time::SleepFor(::Time::InSeconds(0.008));
   }
 
+ protected:
+  void SetUp() override {
+    SetDieTestMode(true);
+  }
+
  private:
   DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(ConditionTest);
 };
diff --git a/aos/common/die.cc b/aos/common/die.cc
index 467b81d..0ea7007 100644
--- a/aos/common/die.cc
+++ b/aos/common/die.cc
@@ -6,13 +6,7 @@
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <string.h>
-#ifdef __VXWORKS__
-#include <taskLib.h>
-// Have to re-declare it with __attribute__((noreturn)).
-extern "C" void abort() __attribute__((noreturn));
-#include <usrLib.h>
-#include <dbgLib.h>
-#endif
+#include <signal.h>
 
 #include <string>
 
@@ -28,6 +22,7 @@
 }
 
 namespace {
+
 // Calculates the filename to dump the message into.
 const std::string GetFilename() {
 #ifdef __VXWORKS__
@@ -50,6 +45,9 @@
   }
 #endif
 }
+
+bool test_mode = false;
+
 }  // namespace
 
 void VDie(const char *format, va_list args_in) {
@@ -60,31 +58,28 @@
   fputs("aos fatal: ERROR!! details following\n", stderr);
   va_copy(args1, args_in);
   vfprintf(stderr, format, args1);
-  fputs("aos fatal: ERROR!! see stderr for details\n", stdout);
+  if (!test_mode) {
+    fputs("aos fatal: ERROR!! see stderr for details\n", stdout);
 
-  const std::string filename = GetFilename();
-  if (!filename.empty()) {
-    FILE *error_file = fopen(filename.c_str(), "w");
-    if (error_file != NULL) {
-      va_copy(args2, args_in);
-      vfprintf(error_file, format, args2);
-      fclose(error_file);
-    } else {
-      fprintf(stderr, "aos fatal: fopen('%s', \"w\") failed with %d (%s)\n",
-              filename.c_str(), errno, strerror(errno));
+    const std::string filename = GetFilename();
+    if (!filename.empty()) {
+      FILE *error_file = fopen(filename.c_str(), "w");
+      if (error_file != NULL) {
+        va_copy(args2, args_in);
+        vfprintf(error_file, format, args2);
+        fclose(error_file);
+      } else {
+        fprintf(stderr, "aos fatal: fopen('%s', \"w\") failed with %d (%s)\n",
+                filename.c_str(), errno, strerror(errno));
+      }
     }
   }
 
-#ifdef __VXWORKS__
-  printf("I am 0x%x suspending for debugging purposes.\n", taskIdSelf());
-  printf("\t`tt 0x%x` will give you a stack trace.\n", taskIdSelf());
-  fputs("\t`lkAddr` will reverse lookup a symbol for you.\n", stdout);
-  fputs("\t`dbgHelp` and `help` have some useful commands in them.\n", stdout);
-  taskSuspend(0);
-  printf("You weren't supposed to resume 0x%x!!. Going to really die now.\n",
-         taskIdSelf());
-#endif
   abort();
 }
 
+void SetDieTestMode(bool new_test_mode) {
+  test_mode = new_test_mode;
+}
+
 }  // namespace aos
diff --git a/aos/common/die.h b/aos/common/die.h
index 28519a8..d973b42 100644
--- a/aos/common/die.h
+++ b/aos/common/die.h
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@
     __attribute__((noreturn))
     __attribute__((format(gnu_printf, 1, 0)));
 
+// Turns on (or off) "test mode", where (V)Die doesn't write out files and
+// doesn't print to stdout.
+// Test mode defaults to false.
+void SetDieTestMode(bool test_mode);
+
 }  // namespace aos
 
 #endif  // AOS_COMMON_DIE_H_
diff --git a/aos/common/mutex_test.cpp b/aos/common/mutex_test.cpp
index 652cd9e..10f4e0b 100644
--- a/aos/common/mutex_test.cpp
+++ b/aos/common/mutex_test.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #include "gtest/gtest.h"
 
 #include "aos/atom_code/ipc_lib/aos_sync.h"
+#include "aos/common/die.h"
 
 namespace aos {
 namespace testing {
@@ -17,6 +18,11 @@
 class MutexTest : public ::testing::Test {
  public:
   Mutex test_mutex;
+
+ protected:
+  void SetUp() override {
+    SetDieTestMode(true);
+  }
 };
 
 typedef MutexTest MutexDeathTest;
diff --git a/aos/common/queue_test.cc b/aos/common/queue_test.cc
index 32d1d23..ebb0bba 100644
--- a/aos/common/queue_test.cc
+++ b/aos/common/queue_test.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "aos/common/test_queue.q.h"
 #include "aos/common/queue_testutils.h"
 #include "aos/common/util/thread.h"
+#include "aos/common/die.h"
 
 using ::aos::time::Time;
 
@@ -15,6 +16,10 @@
 
 class QueueTest : public ::testing::Test {
  protected:
+  void SetUp() override {
+    SetDieTestMode(true);
+  }
+
   GlobalCoreInstance my_core;
   // Create a new instance of the test queue so that it invalidates the queue
   // that it points to.  Otherwise, we will have a pointer to shared memory that