diff --git a/metadata/environment.go b/metadata/environment.go
index 24f184e441eba957ca9776dcc8a1100086c74b58..9eaa66bb0452f24ba7fca12451fab96c302e7a23 100644
--- a/metadata/environment.go
+++ b/metadata/environment.go
@@ -74,26 +74,26 @@ func (m *manager) createEnvironment(name, uri string, extensionsLibData, k8sLibD
 	}
 
 	envPath := appendToAbsPath(m.environmentsPath, name)
-	err = m.appFS.MkdirAll(string(envPath), os.ModePerm)
+	err = m.appFS.MkdirAll(string(envPath), defaultPermissions)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	// Generate the schema file.
 	schemaPath := appendToAbsPath(envPath, schemaFilename)
-	err = afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(schemaPath), specData, os.ModePerm)
+	err = afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(schemaPath), specData, defaultPermissions)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	k8sLibPath := appendToAbsPath(envPath, k8sLibFilename)
-	err = afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(k8sLibPath), k8sLibData, 0644)
+	err = afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(k8sLibPath), k8sLibData, defaultPermissions)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	extensionsLibPath := appendToAbsPath(envPath, extensionsLibFilename)
-	err = afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(extensionsLibPath), extensionsLibData, 0644)
+	err = afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(extensionsLibPath), extensionsLibData, defaultPermissions)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ func (m *manager) createEnvironment(name, uri string, extensionsLibData, k8sLibD
 	}
 
 	envSpecPath := appendToAbsPath(envPath, specFilename)
-	return afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(envSpecPath), envSpecData, os.ModePerm)
+	return afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(envSpecPath), envSpecData, defaultPermissions)
 }
 
 func (m *manager) DeleteEnvironment(name string) error {
@@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ func (m *manager) SetEnvironment(name string, desired Environment) error {
 
 		envPath := appendToAbsPath(m.environmentsPath, name)
 		specPath := appendToAbsPath(envPath, specFilename)
-		return afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(specPath), newSpec, os.ModePerm)
+		return afero.WriteFile(m.appFS, string(specPath), newSpec, defaultPermissions)
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/metadata/interface.go b/metadata/interface.go
index 6a928670e7b127f522604a5e88fa66b2a8484306..be20f6eff9079fabe5ca5566a01067bd94ab1f8a 100644
--- a/metadata/interface.go
+++ b/metadata/interface.go
@@ -16,10 +16,13 @@
 package metadata
 
 import (
+	"os"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/afero"
 )
 
 var appFS afero.Fs
+var defaultPermissions = os.FileMode(0644)
 
 // AbsPath is an advisory type that represents an absolute path. It is advisory
 // in that it is not forced to be absolute, but rather, meant to indicate
diff --git a/metadata/manager.go b/metadata/manager.go
index 9ba21b803244be39ec183f220c196a7ba9b267d3..85c69b749081151520cb82ff25a18a42321e4068 100644
--- a/metadata/manager.go
+++ b/metadata/manager.go
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ func (m *manager) createAppDirTree() error {
 	}
 
 	for _, p := range paths {
-		if err := m.appFS.MkdirAll(string(p), os.ModePerm); err != nil {
+		if err := m.appFS.MkdirAll(string(p), defaultPermissions); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}