diff --git a/runtime/artifacts b/runtime/artifacts
index 388875df..23e111f2 100644
--- a/runtime/artifacts
+++ b/runtime/artifacts
@@ -10,8 +10,15 @@ DENO_DIR=.deno_dir ./amz-deno fetch hello.ts
 # assert the required files are going to be present in the zip
 ls amz-deno &> /dev/null && ls bootstrap &> /dev/null && ls hello.ts &> /dev/null
 
-cp -R .deno_dir/gen/file/$PWD/ .deno_dir/LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT
+cp -R .deno_dir/gen/file/$PWD/. .deno_dir/LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT
 zip -qq deno-lambda-layer.zip -x '.deno_dir/gen/file/*' -r .deno_dir amz-deno bootstrap hello.ts
 zip -qq deno-lambda-example.zip -x '.deno_dir/gen/file/*' -r .deno_dir hello.ts
 
 DENO_DIR=.deno_dir ./amz-deno bundle bundle.ts bundle.bundle.js
+
+rm -rf .deno_dir
+mkdir -p .deno_dir/deps/https/deno.land/x/lambda/
+cp mod.ts .deno_dir/deps/https/deno.land/x/lambda/mod.ts
+DENO_DIR=.deno_dir ./amz-deno fetch remote.ts
+cp -R .deno_dir/gen/file/$PWD/. .deno_dir/LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT
+zip -qq remote.zip -x '.deno_dir/gen/file/*' -r .deno_dir remote.ts
diff --git a/runtime/bootstrap b/runtime/bootstrap
index c7185ecf..e201b963 100755
--- a/runtime/bootstrap
+++ b/runtime/bootstrap
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ API_ROOT=http://${AWS_LAMBDA_RUNTIME_API}/2018-06-01/runtime/
 
 # If this ENV variable is set then copy that directory as DENO_DIR (default = .deno_dir).
 # Note: For permissions reasons we need the actual DENO_DIR to be somewhere in /tmp.
-DENO_DIR=${DENO_DIR-'.deno_dir'}
+DENO_DIR=${DENO_DIR-.deno_dir}
+if [[ -z "$DENO_DIR" ]]; then
+  DENO_DIR=.deno_dir
+fi
 
 # whether to use ts, js, bundle.js, etc.
 HANDLER_EXT=${HANDLER_EXT-'ts'}
@@ -121,14 +124,15 @@ while (true) {
 
 mkdir -p /tmp/deno_dir/gen/file$LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT
 # We cp first from the deno-lambda-layer.
-cp -R /opt/.deno_dir/gen /tmp/deno_dir/gen &> /dev/null \
- && cp -R /opt/.deno_dir/deps /tmp/deno_dir/deps &> /dev/null \
- && cp -R /opt/.deno_dir/LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/ /tmp/deno_dir/gen/file$LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT &> /dev/null \
+cp -R /opt/.deno_dir/gen/. /tmp/deno_dir/gen &> /dev/null \
+ && cp -R /opt/.deno_dir/deps/. /tmp/deno_dir/deps &> /dev/null \
+ && cp -R /opt/.deno_dir/LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/. /tmp/deno_dir/gen/file$LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT &> /dev/null \
  || true
 # Then we overwrite with from the DENO_DIR in the function code.
-cp -R $LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/$DENO_DIR/gen /tmp/deno_dir/gen &> /dev/null \
- && cp -R $LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/$DENO_DIR/deps /tmp/deno_dir/deps &> /dev/null \
- && cp -R $LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/$DENO_DIR/LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/ /tmp/deno_dir/gen/file$LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT &> /dev/null \
+cp -R $LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/$DENO_DIR/gen/. /tmp/deno_dir/gen &> /dev/null \
+ && cp -R $LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/$DENO_DIR/deps/. /tmp/deno_dir/deps &> /dev/null \
+ && cp -R $LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/$DENO_DIR/gen/. /tmp/deno_dir/gen &> /dev/null \
+ && cp -R $LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/$DENO_DIR/LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT/. /tmp/deno_dir/gen/file$LAMBDA_TASK_ROOT &> /dev/null \
  || echo "warn: unable to import '$DENO_DIR/' as DENO_DIR"
 
 DENO_DIR=/tmp/deno_dir NO_COLOR=true $SCRIPT_DIR/amz-deno run --allow-net --allow-read --allow-env /tmp/runtime.js \
diff --git a/tests/Dockerfile b/tests/Dockerfile
index bb10d227..ab4b6602 100644
--- a/tests/Dockerfile
+++ b/tests/Dockerfile
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ RUN deno fetch /src/tests/deps.ts
 ADD hello.ts /src/runtime/hello.ts
 ADD hello.ts /src/tests/hello.ts
 ADD tests/bundle.ts /src/runtime/bundle.ts
-
+ADD tests/remote.ts /src/runtime/remote.ts
 ADD runtime /src/runtime
 
 WORKDIR /src/runtime
diff --git a/tests/remote.ts b/tests/remote.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b3d9591c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/remote.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import { Context, Event } from "https://deno.land/x/lambda/mod.ts";
+import { pad } from "https://deno.land/std/strings/pad.ts";
+
+export function handler(event: Event, context: Context) {
+  return pad("deno", 5);
+}
diff --git a/tests/server.ts b/tests/server.ts
index 1038a4ab..2e9d3f39 100644
--- a/tests/server.ts
+++ b/tests/server.ts
@@ -12,10 +12,13 @@ function bootstrap(testJson) {
     ? "/var/task/bootstrap"
     : "/opt/bootstrap";
 
+  if (!testJson.env.DENO_DIR) {
+    testJson.env.DENO_DIR = "";
+  }
   return Deno.run({
     args: [bootstrapScript],
     stdout: "piped",
-    stderr: "piped", // comment this out to debug
+    // stderr: "piped", // comment this out to debug
     env: testJson.env,
     cwd: "/var/task"
   });
@@ -73,12 +76,11 @@ export async function serveEvents(testJson) {
       }
     }
   }
-  const out = await read(p.stdout);
+  /// const out = await read(p.stdout);
   p.kill(9);
   s.close();
   await p.status();
   return {
-    responses,
-    out
+    responses: responses
   };
 }
diff --git a/tests/test_denodir.json b/tests/test_denodir.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dff12e25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_denodir.json
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+{
+  "env": {
+    "_HANDLER": "remote.handler"
+  },
+  "events": [{ "hello": "deno" }, { "hello": "again" }],
+  "expected": [
+    {
+      "status": "ok",
+      "content": "\" deno\""
+    },
+    {
+      "status": "ok",
+      "content": "\" deno\""
+    }
+  ],
+  "files": "remote.zip",
+  "layer": "deno-lambda-layer.zip"
+}