diff --git a/pkg/index/indextest/tests.go b/pkg/index/indextest/tests.go
index a8b672bdb..2448a6138 100644
--- a/pkg/index/indextest/tests.go
+++ b/pkg/index/indextest/tests.go
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -137,10 +140,34 @@ func (id *IndexDeps) UploadFile(fileName string, contents string) (fileRef, whol
 	return
 }
 
+func osSplitChar() string {
+	switch runtime.GOOS {
+	case "windows":
+		return ";"
+	case "plan9":
+		panic("unsupported")
+	}
+	return ":"
+}
+
+func findGoPathPackage(pkg string) string {
+	gp := os.Getenv("GOPATH")
+	if gp == "" {
+		panic("no GOPATH set")
+	}
+	for _, p := range strings.Split(gp, osSplitChar()) {
+		dir := filepath.Join(p, "src", pkg)
+		if fi, err := os.Stat(dir); err == nil && fi.IsDir() {
+			return dir
+		}
+	}
+	panic(fmt.Sprintf("package %q not found in GOPATH(s) of %q", pkg, gp))
+}
+
 func NewIndexDeps(index *index.Index) *IndexDeps {
 	// TODO(mpl): do better than the quick hack with the testdata symlink when things
 	// have settled regarding the organization of the packages.
-	secretRingFile := "testdata/test-secring.gpg"
+	secretRingFile := filepath.Join(findGoPathPackage("camlistore.org"), "pkg", "jsonsign", "testdata", "test-secring.gpg")
 	pubKey := &test.Blob{Contents: `-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
 
 xsBNBEzgoVsBCAC/56aEJ9BNIGV9FVP+WzenTAkg12k86YqlwJVAB/VwdMlyXxvi
@@ -269,7 +296,7 @@ func Index(t *testing.T, initIdx func() *index.Index) {
 		}
 		_, _, err = id.Index.GetBlobMimeType(blobref.Parse("abc-123"))
 		if err != os.ErrNotExist {
-			t.Errorf("GetBlobMimeType(dummy blobref) = %v; want os.ENOENT", err)
+			t.Errorf("GetBlobMimeType(dummy blobref) = %v; want os.ErrNotExist", err)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/index/mongo/testdata b/pkg/index/mongo/testdata
deleted file mode 120000
index 4f7c11684..000000000
--- a/pkg/index/mongo/testdata
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../testdata
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pkg/index/mysql/mysql_test.go b/pkg/index/mysql/mysql_test.go
index fa102b01d..7e84c5ee4 100644
--- a/pkg/index/mysql/mysql_test.go
+++ b/pkg/index/mysql/mysql_test.go
@@ -19,12 +19,14 @@ package mysql_test
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
+	"os"
 
 	"camlistore.org/pkg/index"
 	"camlistore.org/pkg/index/indextest"
-	_ "camlistore.org/pkg/index/mysql" // TODO: use
+	"camlistore.org/pkg/index/mysql"
 
 	_ "camlistore.org/third_party/github.com/ziutek/mymysql/godrv"
 )
@@ -38,28 +40,52 @@ var (
 func checkDB() {
 	var err error
 	if rootdb, err = sql.Open("mymysql", "mysql/root/root"); err == nil {
-		dbAvailable = true
-		return
-	}
-	if rootdb, err = sql.Open("mymysql", "mysql/root/"); err == nil {
-		dbAvailable = true
-		return
+		var n int
+		err := rootdb.QueryRow("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM user").Scan(&n)
+		if err == nil {
+			dbAvailable = true
+		}
 	}
 }
 
 func makeIndex() *index.Index {
-	panic("TODO")
+	dbname := "camlitest_" + os.Getenv("USER")
+	do(rootdb, "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS " + dbname)
+	do(rootdb, "CREATE DATABASE " + dbname)
+
+	db, err := sql.Open("mymysql", dbname + "/root/root");
+	if err != nil {
+		panic("opening test database: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	for _, tableSql := range mysql.SQLCreateTables() {
+		do(db, tableSql)
+	}
+
+	do(db, fmt.Sprintf(`REPLACE INTO meta VALUES ('version', '%d')`, mysql.SchemaVersion()))
+	s, err := mysql.NewStorage("localhost", "root", "root", dbname)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	return index.New(s)
+}
+
+func do(db *sql.DB, sql string) {
+	_, err := db.Exec(sql)
+	if err == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	panic(fmt.Sprintf("Error %v running SQL: %s", err, sql))
 }
 
 type mysqlTester struct{}
 
 func (mysqlTester) test(t *testing.T, tfn func(*testing.T, func() *index.Index)) {
-	t.Logf("TODO: implement")
-	return
-
 	once.Do(checkDB)
 	if !dbAvailable {
-		err := errors.New("Not running; start a MySQL daemon on the standard port (3306) with root password 'root' or '' (empty).")
+		// TODO(bradfitz): accept somehow other passwords than
+		// 'root', and/or try localhost unix socket
+		// connections rather than using TCP localhost?
+		err := errors.New("Not running; start a MySQL daemon on the standard port (3306) with root password 'root'")
 		t.Fatalf("MySQL not available locally for testing: %v", err)
 	}
 	tfn(t, makeIndex)
diff --git a/pkg/index/mysql/mysqlindexer.go b/pkg/index/mysql/mysqlindexer.go
index 493ae6bd7..c04c3f3a2 100644
--- a/pkg/index/mysql/mysqlindexer.go
+++ b/pkg/index/mysql/mysqlindexer.go
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ func (ms *myIndexStorage) CommitBatch(b index.BatchMutation) error {
 
 func (ms *myIndexStorage) Get(key string) (value string, err error) {
 	err = ms.db.QueryRow("SELECT v FROM rows WHERE k=?", key).Scan(&value)
+	if err == sql.ErrNoRows {
+		err = index.ErrNotFound
+	}
 	return
 }
 
@@ -164,6 +167,20 @@ func (t *iter) Next() bool {
 	return true
 }
 
+// NewStorage returns an IndexStorage implementation of the described MySQL database.
+// This exists mostly for testing and does not initialize the schema.
+func NewStorage(host, user, password, dbname string) (index.IndexStorage, error) {
+	is := &myIndexStorage{
+		host:     host,
+		user:     user,
+		password: password,
+		database: dbname,
+	}
+	db, err := sql.Open("mymysql", is.database+"/"+is.user+"/"+is.password)
+	is.db = db
+	return is, err
+}
+
 func newFromConfig(ld blobserver.Loader, config jsonconfig.Obj) (blobserver.Storage, error) {
 	blobPrefix := config.RequiredString("blobSource")
 	is := &myIndexStorage{
diff --git a/pkg/index/testdata b/pkg/index/testdata
deleted file mode 120000
index 4684d1d03..000000000
--- a/pkg/index/testdata
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-../jsonsign/testdata
\ No newline at end of file