diff --git a/.circleci/do-rtl-build.sh b/.circleci/do-rtl-build.sh
index a13412e3..3a5d56ca 100755
--- a/.circleci/do-rtl-build.sh
+++ b/.circleci/do-rtl-build.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ cd $LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR
 ./scripts/init-submodules-no-riscv-tools.sh
 ./scripts/init-fpga.sh
 
+# replace the workspace dir with a local dir so you can copy around
+sed -i -E 's/(workspace=).*(\/tools)/\1$PWD\2/g' .sbtopts
+
 # set stricthostkeychecking to no (must happen before rsync)
 run "echo \"Ping $SERVER\""
 
diff --git a/.circleci/run-firesim-scala-tests.sh b/.circleci/run-firesim-scala-tests.sh
index a2525297..23c4d08a 100755
--- a/.circleci/run-firesim-scala-tests.sh
+++ b/.circleci/run-firesim-scala-tests.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,9 @@ cd $LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR/sims/firesim
 ./scripts/build-libdwarf.sh
 cd $LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR
 
+# replace the workspace dir with a local dir so you can copy around
+sed -i -E 's/(workspace=).*(\/tools)/\1$PWD\2/g' .sbtopts
+
 make -C $LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR/tools/dromajo/dromajo-src/src
 
 # set stricthostkeychecking to no (must happen before rsync)