diff --git a/src/dataregistry/DataRegistry.py b/src/dataregistry/DataRegistry.py
index 1ab0b5eb..00814f25 100644
--- a/src/dataregistry/DataRegistry.py
+++ b/src/dataregistry/DataRegistry.py
@@ -59,18 +59,18 @@ def __init__(
         self.db_connection = DbConnection(config_file, schema=schema, verbose=verbose)
 
         # Work out the location of the root directory
-        root_dir = self._get_root_dir(root_dir, site)
+        self.root_dir = self._get_root_dir(root_dir, site)
 
         # Create registrar object
         self.Registrar = Registrar(
             self.db_connection,
-            root_dir,
+            self.root_dir,
             owner=owner,
             owner_type=owner_type,
         )
 
         # Create query object
-        self.Query = Query(self.db_connection, root_dir)
+        self.Query = Query(self.db_connection, self.root_dir)
 
     def _get_root_dir(self, root_dir, site):
         """
diff --git a/tests/unit_tests/test_root_dir.py b/tests/unit_tests/test_root_dir.py
index 44d1841f..fe0e56ec 100644
--- a/tests/unit_tests/test_root_dir.py
+++ b/tests/unit_tests/test_root_dir.py
@@ -39,5 +39,4 @@ def test_root_dir_manual(root_dir, site, set_env_var, ans):
     if reg.db_connection.dialect != "sqlite":
         assert reg.db_connection.schema is not None
 
-    assert reg.Registrar._root_dir == ans
-    assert reg.Query._root_dir == ans
+    assert reg.root_dir == ans