diff --git a/tests/test-arch-system-file.R b/tests/test-arch-system-file.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..915f8109
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-arch-system-file.R
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Unit tests for archSystemFile(), the arch-aware wrapper around system.file()
+# introduced when systemFile() was renamed (see #251, #252). When R is built
+# multi-arch -- typically Windows, but also possible on Linux and macOS -- it
+# installs compiled libraries under an architecture-specific subdirectory named
+# by .Platform$r_arch, e.g. 'libs/x64'. archSystemFile() injects that subdir,
+# and behaves like system.file() when r_arch is unset. Note the subdir only
+# ever holds compiled libraries ('lib', 'libs'); headers and other resources
+# are never installed under it.
+
+RcppParallel:::test_init()
+
+arch <- .Platform$r_arch
+
+# compare two file paths for equality. system.file() returns "" when a path is
+# not found, so preserve that sentinel; otherwise normalize both sides, since
+# strings that differ only in separators, case, or symlinks can still denote
+# the same file (and normalizePath("") would resolve to the working directory).
+samePath <- function(a, b) {
+   norm <- function(p) {
+      if (nzchar(p)) normalizePath(p, winslash = "/", mustWork = FALSE) else p
+   }
+   identical(norm(a), norm(b))
+}
+
+# with no arch subdirectory (the usual case off Windows), archSystemFile()
+# should be equivalent to a plain system.file() call
+if (!nzchar(arch)) {
+   assert(samePath(
+      archSystemFile("libs"),
+      system.file("libs", package = "RcppParallel")
+   ))
+}
+
+# the composed relative path must match what system.file() is handed: dir,
+# then the arch subdir when set, then the optional name -- joined with '/'
+expected <- function(dir, name = NULL) {
+   parts <- c(dir, if (nzchar(arch)) arch, name)
+   system.file(paste(parts, collapse = "/"), package = "RcppParallel")
+}
+
+assert(samePath(archSystemFile("lib"), expected("lib")))
+assert(samePath(archSystemFile("lib", "libtbb.so"), expected("lib", "libtbb.so")))
+
+# the package's own compiled code is installed under 'libs' (or 'libs/<arch>'
+# under a multi-arch R) -- exactly the arch-aware lookup archSystemFile()
+# exists for -- so it must resolve to an existing directory on every platform
+libs <- archSystemFile("libs")
+assert(nzchar(libs))
+assert(dir.exists(libs))
diff --git a/tests/test-fork.R b/tests/test-fork.R
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..08186544
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test-fork.R
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Unit tests for isProcessForkedChild().
+#
+# The contract: it returns FALSE in the process where RcppParallel was loaded,
+# and TRUE in a fork() of that process (e.g. a parallel::mclapply worker). On
+# Windows there is no fork(), so it always returns FALSE.
+
+RcppParallel:::test_init()
+
+# in the parent process, we are never a forked child
+assert(isProcessForkedChild() == FALSE)
+
+# parallel::mclapply uses fork() on unix, so its workers must report TRUE.
+# on Windows there is no fork() (mclapply falls back to serial), so skip: the
+# workers there run in the parent process and would correctly report FALSE.
+if (!is_windows()) {
+
+   results <- parallel::mclapply(1:2, function(i) {
+      RcppParallel::isProcessForkedChild()
+   }, mc.cores = 2L)
+
+   assert(all(vapply(results, isTRUE, logical(1L))))
+
+}
+
+# forking must not disturb the parent's own view of itself
+assert(isProcessForkedChild() == FALSE)