diff --git a/test/apply/arity-test.xsl b/test/apply/arity-test.xsl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0993c3f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/apply/arity-test.xsl
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<!--
+  Tests arity calculations
+
+  Copyright (C) 2014 LoVullo Associates, Inc.
+
+    This file is part of hoxsl.
+
+    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+    (at your option) any later version.
+
+    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+    GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+-->
+
+<stylesheet version="2.0"
+            xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
+            xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
+            xmlns:f="http://www.lovullo.com/hoxsl/apply"
+            xmlns:foo="http://www.lovullo.com/_junk">
+
+  <!-- this imports the SUT, as well as additional functions we need
+       for testing -->
+  <import href="../../src/apply.xsl" />
+</stylesheet>
diff --git a/test/apply/arity.xspec b/test/apply/arity.xspec
index bb94b01..1fe892f 100644
--- a/test/apply/arity.xspec
+++ b/test/apply/arity.xspec
@@ -25,7 +25,11 @@
              xmlns:x="http://www.jenitennison.com/xslt/xspec"
              xmlns:f="http://www.lovullo.com/hoxsl/apply"
              xmlns:foo="http://www.lovullo.com/_junk"
-             stylesheet="../../src/apply/arity.xsl">
+             stylesheet="arity-test.xsl">
+
+  <variable name="foo-uri"
+            select="namespace-uri-for-prefix(
+                      'foo', root(.)/element() )" />
 
 
   <scenario label="f:arity">
@@ -35,11 +39,9 @@
 
       <!-- test our format directly; do not rely on the
            apply-gen code -->
-      <variable name="fnref">
-        <f:ref arity="{$test-arity}">
-          <foo:bar />
-        </f:ref>
-      </variable>
+      <variable name="fnref"
+                select="f:make-ref( QName( $foo-uri, 'foo:bar' ),
+                                    $test-arity )" />
 
       <call function="f:arity">
         <param name="fnref"