diff --git a/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgram.java b/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgram.java
index 50ae238abd..edc91ecc7c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgram.java
+++ b/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgram.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 
 import com.intel.gkl.compression.IntelDeflaterFactory;
 import com.intel.gkl.compression.IntelInflaterFactory;
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import htsjdk.samtools.Defaults;
 import htsjdk.samtools.SAMFileHeader;
 import htsjdk.samtools.SAMFileWriterFactory;
@@ -341,7 +342,7 @@ protected boolean parseArgs(final String[] argv) {
         // object created by this code path won't be valid - but we still have to set it here in case
         // the tool tries to access REFERENCE_SEQUENCE directly (such tools will subsequently fail given
         // a non-local file anyway, but this prevents them from immediately throwing an NPE).
-        final PicardHtsPath refHtsPath = referenceSequence.getHtsPath();
+        final IOPath refHtsPath = referenceSequence.getHtsPath();
         REFERENCE_SEQUENCE = ReferenceArgumentCollection.getFileSafe(refHtsPath, Log.getInstance(this.getClass()));
 
         // The TMP_DIR setting section below was moved from instanceMain() to here due to timing issues
diff --git a/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/argumentcollections/ReferenceArgumentCollection.java b/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/argumentcollections/ReferenceArgumentCollection.java
index bb06e30330..eb4bb94fae 100644
--- a/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/argumentcollections/ReferenceArgumentCollection.java
+++ b/src/main/java/picard/cmdline/argumentcollections/ReferenceArgumentCollection.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.Log;
 import picard.nio.PicardBucketUtils;
 import picard.nio.PicardHtsPath;
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@ default Path getReferencePath(){
      *
      * @return The reference provided by the user, if any, or the default, if any, as a PicardHtsPath. May be null.
      */
-    default PicardHtsPath getHtsPath(){
+    default IOPath getHtsPath(){
         return getReferenceFile() == null ? null : new PicardHtsPath(getReferenceFile());
     }
 
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ default PicardHtsPath getHtsPath(){
      * the value returned by calls to getReferenceFile to not get an NPE, and to fail gracefully downstream
      * with an error message that includes the reference file specifier.
      */
-    static File getFileSafe(final PicardHtsPath picardPath, final Log log) {
+    static File getFileSafe(final IOPath picardPath, final Log log) {
         if (picardPath == null) {
             return null;
         } else if (picardPath.getScheme().equals(PicardBucketUtils.FILE_SCHEME)) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtils.java b/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtils.java
index 04b610b742..8e100db005 100644
--- a/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtils.java
@@ -1,18 +1,12 @@
 package picard.nio;
 
-import com.google.cloud.storage.contrib.nio.CloudStorageFileSystem;
-import com.google.cloud.storage.contrib.nio.CloudStoragePath;
 import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.FileExtensions;
 import htsjdk.utils.ValidationUtils;
+import picard.PicardException;
 
-import java.io.File;
-import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.nio.file.Paths;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.UUID;
 
-
 /**
  * Derived from BucketUtils.java in GATK
  */
@@ -20,11 +14,12 @@ public class PicardBucketUtils {
     public static final String GOOGLE_CLOUD_STORAGE_FILESYSTEM_SCHEME = "gs";
     public static final String HTTP_FILESYSTEM_PROVIDER_SCHEME = "http";
     public static final String HTTPS_FILESYSTEM_PROVIDER_SCHEME = "https";
-    public static final String HDFS_SCHEME = "hdfs";
     public static final String FILE_SCHEME = "file";
 
     // This Picard test staging bucket has a TTL of 180 days (DeleteAction with Age = 180)
-    public static final String GCLOUD_PICARD_STAGING_DIRECTORY = "gs://hellbender-test-logs/staging/picard/";
+    public static final String GCLOUD_PICARD_STAGING_DIRECTORY_STR = "gs://hellbender-test-logs/staging/picard/";
+    public static final PicardHtsPath GCLOUD_PICARD_STAGING_DIRECTORY = new PicardHtsPath(GCLOUD_PICARD_STAGING_DIRECTORY_STR);
+
 
     // slashes omitted since hdfs paths seem to only have 1 slash which would be weirder to include than no slashes
     private PicardBucketUtils(){} //private so that no one will instantiate this class
@@ -41,59 +36,43 @@ private PicardBucketUtils(){} //private so that no one will instantiate this cla
      * @return a new temporary path of the form [directory]/[prefix][random chars][.extension]
      *
      */
-    public static PicardHtsPath getTempFilePath(final String directory, String prefix, final String extension){
+    public static IOPath getTempFilePath(final IOPath directory, String prefix, final String extension){
         ValidationUtils.validateArg(extension.startsWith("."), "The new extension must start with a period '.'");
         final String defaultPrefix = "tmp";
 
         if (directory == null){
+            // If directory = null, we are creating a local temp file.
             // File#createTempFile requires that the prefix be at least 3 characters long
             prefix = prefix.length() >= 3 ? prefix : defaultPrefix;
             return new PicardHtsPath(PicardIOUtils.createTempFile(prefix, extension));
-        }
-
-        if (isGcsUrl(directory) || isHadoopUrl(directory)){
-            final PicardHtsPath path = PicardHtsPath.fromPath(randomRemotePath(directory, prefix, extension));
-            PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(path.toPath());
-            // Mark auxiliary files to be deleted
-            PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.TRIBBLE_INDEX, true).toPath());
-            PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.TABIX_INDEX, true).toPath());
-            PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.BAI_INDEX, true).toPath()); // e.g. file.bam.bai
-            PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.BAI_INDEX, false).toPath()); // e.g. file.bai
-            PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, ".md5", true).toPath());
-            return path;
-        } else {
+        } else if (PicardBucketUtils.isLocalPath(directory)) {
             // Assume the (non-null) directory points to a directory on a local filesystem
             prefix = prefix.length() >= 3 ? prefix : defaultPrefix;
-            return new PicardHtsPath(PicardIOUtils.createTempFileInDirectory(prefix, extension, new File(directory)));
+            return new PicardHtsPath(PicardIOUtils.createTempFileInDirectory(prefix, extension, directory.toPath().toFile()));
+        } else {
+            if (isSupportedCloudFilesystem(directory)) {
+                final IOPath path = randomRemotePath(directory, prefix, extension);
+                PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(path.toPath());
+                // Mark auxiliary files to be deleted
+                PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.TRIBBLE_INDEX, true).toPath());
+                PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.TABIX_INDEX, true).toPath());
+                PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.BAI_INDEX, true).toPath()); // e.g. file.bam.bai
+                PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, FileExtensions.BAI_INDEX, false).toPath()); // e.g. file.bai
+                PicardIOUtils.deleteOnExit(PicardHtsPath.replaceExtension(path, ".md5", true).toPath());
+                return path;
+            } else {
+                throw new PicardException("Unsupported cloud filesystem: " + directory.getURIString());
+            }
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * This overload of getTempFilePath takes the directory of type PicardHtsPath instead of String.
-     *
-     * @see #getTempFilePath(String, String, String)
-     *
-     */
-    public static PicardHtsPath getTempFilePath(final IOPath directory, String prefix, final String extension){
-        return getTempFilePath(directory.getURIString(), prefix, extension);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Calls getTempFilePath with the empty string as the prefix.
-     *
-     * @see #getTempFilePath(String, String, String)
-     */
-    public static PicardHtsPath getTempFilePath(String directory, String extension){
-        return getTempFilePath(directory, "", extension);
-    }
-
     /**
      * Creates a temporary file in a local directory.
      *
-     * @see #getTempFilePath(String, String, String)
+     * @see #getTempFilePath(IOPath, String, String)
      */
-    public static PicardHtsPath getLocalTempFilePath(final String prefix, final String extension){
-        return getTempFilePath((String) null, prefix, extension);
+    public static IOPath getLocalTempFilePath(final String prefix, final String extension){
+        return getTempFilePath(null, prefix, extension);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -110,10 +89,10 @@ public static PicardHtsPath getLocalTempFilePath(final String prefix, final Stri
      * @param relativePath The relative location for the new "directory" under the harcoded staging bucket with a TTL set e.g. "test/RevertSam/".
      * @return A PicardHtsPath object to a randomly generated "directory" e.g. "gs://hellbender-test-logs/staging/picard/test/RevertSam/{randomly-generated-string}/"
      */
-    public static PicardHtsPath getRandomGCSDirectory(final String relativePath){
+    public static IOPath getRandomGCSDirectory(final String relativePath){
         ValidationUtils.validateArg(relativePath.endsWith("/"), "relativePath must end in backslash '/': " + relativePath);
 
-        return PicardHtsPath.fromPath(PicardBucketUtils.randomRemotePath(GCLOUD_PICARD_STAGING_DIRECTORY + relativePath, "", "/"));
+        return PicardBucketUtils.randomRemotePath(PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCLOUD_PICARD_STAGING_DIRECTORY, relativePath), "", "/");
     }
 
     /**
@@ -123,39 +102,14 @@ public static PicardHtsPath getRandomGCSDirectory(final String relativePath){
      * @param prefix The beginning of the file name
      * @param suffix The end of the file name, e.g. ".tmp"
      */
-    public static Path randomRemotePath(String stagingLocation, String prefix, String suffix) {
+    public static IOPath randomRemotePath(final IOPath stagingLocation, final String prefix, final String suffix) {
         if (isGcsUrl(stagingLocation)) {
-            return getPathOnGcs(stagingLocation).resolve(prefix + UUID.randomUUID() + suffix);
-        } else if (isHadoopUrl(stagingLocation)) {
-            return Paths.get(stagingLocation, prefix + UUID.randomUUID() + suffix);
+            return PicardHtsPath.resolve(stagingLocation, prefix + UUID.randomUUID() + suffix);
         } else {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Staging location is not remote: " + stagingLocation);
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * String -> Path. This *should* not be necessary (use Paths.get(URI.create(...)) instead) , but it currently is
-     * on Spark because using the fat, shaded jar breaks the registration of the GCS FilesystemProvider.
-     * To transform other types of string URLs into Paths, use IOUtils.getPath instead.
-     */
-    private static CloudStoragePath getPathOnGcs(String gcsUrl) {
-        // use a split limit of -1 to preserve empty split tokens, especially trailing slashes on directory names
-        final String[] split = gcsUrl.split("/", -1);
-        final String BUCKET = split[2];
-        final String pathWithoutBucket = String.join("/", Arrays.copyOfRange(split, 3, split.length));
-        return CloudStorageFileSystem.forBucket(BUCKET).getPath(pathWithoutBucket);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     *
-     * @param path path to inspect
-     * @return true if this path represents a gcs location
-     */
-    private static boolean isGcsUrl(final String path) {
-        GATKUtils.nonNull(path);
-        return path.startsWith(GOOGLE_CLOUD_STORAGE_FILESYSTEM_SCHEME + "://");
-    }
-
     /**
      *
      * Return true if this {@code PicardHTSPath} represents a gcs URI.
@@ -168,34 +122,31 @@ public static boolean isGcsUrl(final IOPath pathSpec) {
     }
 
     /**
-     * @param pathSpec specifier to inspect
-     * @return true if this {@code GATKPath} represents a remote storage system which may benefit from prefetching (gcs or http(s))
+     * @param path specifier to inspect
+     * @return true if this {@code IOPath} represents a remote storage system which may benefit from prefetching (gcs or http(s))
      */
-    public static boolean isEligibleForPrefetching(final IOPath pathSpec) {
-        GATKUtils.nonNull(pathSpec);
-        return isEligibleForPrefetching(pathSpec.getScheme());
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * @param path path to inspect
-     * @return true if this {@code Path} represents a remote storage system which may benefit from prefetching (gcs or http(s))
-     */
-    public static boolean isEligibleForPrefetching(final Path path) {
+    public static boolean isEligibleForPrefetching(final IOPath path) {
         GATKUtils.nonNull(path);
-        return isEligibleForPrefetching(path.toUri().getScheme());
-    }
-
-    private static boolean isEligibleForPrefetching(final String scheme){
+        final String scheme = path.getScheme();
         return scheme != null
                 && (scheme.equals(GOOGLE_CLOUD_STORAGE_FILESYSTEM_SCHEME)
                 || scheme.equals(HTTP_FILESYSTEM_PROVIDER_SCHEME)
                 || scheme.equals(HTTPS_FILESYSTEM_PROVIDER_SCHEME));
     }
 
+    public static boolean isLocalPath(final IOPath path){
+        return path.getScheme().equals(FILE_SCHEME);
+    }
+
     /**
-     * Returns true if the given path is a HDFS (Hadoop filesystem) URL.
+     * As of August 2024, we only support Google Cloud.
+     * Will add other filesystems (e.g. Azure, AWS) when ready.
+     *
+     * @return whether the cloud filesystem is currently supported by Picard.
      */
-    private static boolean isHadoopUrl(String path) {
-        return path.startsWith(HDFS_SCHEME + "://");
+    public static boolean isSupportedCloudFilesystem(final IOPath path){
+        ValidationUtils.validateArg(! isLocalPath(path), "isSupportedCloudFilesystem should be called on a cloud path but was given: " +
+                path.getURIString());
+        return isGcsUrl(path);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardHtsPath.java b/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardHtsPath.java
index f881a642f4..d7d393efef 100644
--- a/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardHtsPath.java
+++ b/src/main/java/picard/nio/PicardHtsPath.java
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ public static PicardHtsPath replaceExtension(final IOPath path, final String new
     /**
      * Wrapper for Path.resolve()
      */
-    public static PicardHtsPath resolve(final PicardHtsPath absPath, final String relativePath){
+    public static PicardHtsPath resolve(final IOPath absPath, final String relativePath){
         return PicardHtsPath.fromPath(absPath.toPath().resolve(relativePath));
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgramTest.java b/src/test/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgramTest.java
index 4d91c2565c..ceaecab0f2 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgramTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/cmdline/CommandLineProgramTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package picard.cmdline;
 
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;
 import org.testng.annotations.AfterClass;
 import picard.PicardException;
@@ -24,19 +25,19 @@ public abstract class CommandLineProgramTest {
     public static final File CHR_M_DICT = new File(REFERENCE_TEST_DIR,"chrM.reference.dict");
 
     // These are the hg19 references with chromosome names "1" (rather than "chr1")
-    public static final PicardHtsPath HG19_CHR2021_GCLOUD = new PicardHtsPath(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath() + "picard/references/human_g1k_v37.20.21.fasta");
-    public static final PicardHtsPath HG19_CHR2021 = new PicardHtsPath("testdata/picard/reference/human_g1k_v37.20.21.fasta.gz");
+    public static final IOPath HG19_CHR2021_GCLOUD = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath(), "picard/references/human_g1k_v37.20.21.fasta");
+    public static final IOPath HG19_CHR2021 = new PicardHtsPath("testdata/picard/reference/human_g1k_v37.20.21.fasta.gz");
 
-    public static final PicardHtsPath NA12878_MINI_GCLOUD = new PicardHtsPath(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath() + "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n100.bam");
-    public static final PicardHtsPath NA12878_MINI_CRAM_GCLOUD = new PicardHtsPath(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath() + "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n100.cram");
-    public static final PicardHtsPath NA12878_MEDIUM_GCLOUD = new PicardHtsPath(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath() + "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n10000.bam");
-    public static final PicardHtsPath NA12878_MEDIUM_CRAM_GCLOUD = new PicardHtsPath(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath() + "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n10000.cram");
+    public static final IOPath NA12878_MINI_GCLOUD = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath(), "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n100.bam");
+    public static final IOPath NA12878_MINI_CRAM_GCLOUD = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath(), "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n100.cram");
+    public static final IOPath NA12878_MEDIUM_GCLOUD = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath(), "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n10000.bam");
+    public static final IOPath NA12878_MEDIUM_CRAM_GCLOUD = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath(), "picard/bam/CEUTrio.HiSeq.WGS.b37.NA12878.20.21_n10000.cram");
 
     // A per-test-class directory that will be deleted after the tests are complete.
     private File tempOutputDir;
 
     /**
-     * returns an directory designated for output which will be deleted after the test class is tested
+     * returns a directory designated for output which will be deleted after the test class is tested
      */
     public File getTempOutputDir() {
         if (tempOutputDir == null) {
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtilsTest.java b/src/test/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtilsTest.java
index 57fe52d482..50f61ec756 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtilsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/nio/PicardBucketUtilsTest.java
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
 package picard.nio;
 
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import org.testng.Assert;
 import org.testng.annotations.DataProvider;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 import picard.util.GCloudTestUtils;
 
-import java.net.URI;
-import java.nio.file.Path;
-import java.nio.file.Paths;
-
 public class PicardBucketUtilsTest {
 
     @DataProvider(name="testGetTempFilePathDataProvider")
@@ -23,32 +20,28 @@ public Object[][] testGetTempFilePathDataProvider() {
 
     // Check that the extension scheme is consistent for cloud and local files
     @Test(dataProvider = "testGetTempFilePathDataProvider", groups = "cloud")
-    public void testGetTempFilePath(final String directory, final String prefix, final String extension){
-        PicardHtsPath path = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(directory, prefix, extension);
+    public void testGetTempFilePath(final IOPath directory, final String prefix, final String extension){
+        final IOPath path = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(directory, prefix, extension);
         Assert.assertTrue(path.hasExtension(extension));
         if (directory != null){
-            Assert.assertTrue(path.getURIString().startsWith(directory));
-        }
-
-        if (directory == null){
-            Assert.assertEquals(path.getScheme(), "file");
+            Assert.assertTrue(path.getURIString().startsWith(directory.getURIString()));
+        } else {
+            Assert.assertEquals(path.getScheme(), PicardBucketUtils.FILE_SCHEME);
         }
     }
 
     @DataProvider
     public Object[][] getVariousPathsForPrefetching(){
         return new Object[][]{
-                {"file:///local/file", false},
-                {"gs://abucket/bucket", true},
-                {"gs://abucket_with_underscores", true},
+                {new PicardHtsPath("file:///local/file"), false},
+                {new PicardHtsPath("gs://abucket/bucket"), true},
+                {new PicardHtsPath("gs://abucket_with_underscores"), true},
         };
     }
 
     @Test(groups="bucket", dataProvider = "getVariousPathsForPrefetching")
-    public void testIsEligibleForPrefetching(String path, boolean isPrefetchable){
-        final URI uri = URI.create(path);
-        final Path uriPath = Paths.get(uri);
-        Assert.assertEquals(PicardBucketUtils.isEligibleForPrefetching(uriPath), isPrefetchable);
+    public void testIsEligibleForPrefetching(final IOPath path, boolean isPrefetchable){
+        Assert.assertEquals(PicardBucketUtils.isEligibleForPrefetching(path), isPrefetchable);
     }
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/sam/CreateSequenceDictionaryTest.java b/src/test/java/picard/sam/CreateSequenceDictionaryTest.java
index 0c3f7a626a..f337403b92 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picard/sam/CreateSequenceDictionaryTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/sam/CreateSequenceDictionaryTest.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
  */
 package picard.sam;
 
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import htsjdk.samtools.SAMSequenceDictionary;
 import htsjdk.samtools.SAMSequenceRecord;
 import htsjdk.variant.utils.SAMSequenceDictionaryExtractor;
@@ -289,7 +290,7 @@ final Path makeTempDictionary(final Path inputFasta, final String dictNamePrefix
     final PicardHtsPath HG19_MINI = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_INPUTS_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "picard/references/hg19mini.fasta");
     final PicardHtsPath HG19_MINI_LOCAL = new PicardHtsPath("testdata/picard/reference/hg19mini.fasta");
 
-    final PicardHtsPath CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_STAGING_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "picard/");
+    final PicardHtsPath CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_STAGING_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "picard/CreateSequenceDictionary/");
 
     @DataProvider
     public Object[][] cloudTestData() {
@@ -302,7 +303,7 @@ public Object[][] cloudTestData() {
 
     @Test(groups = "cloud", dataProvider = "cloudTestData")
     public void testCloud(final PicardHtsPath inputReference) {
-        final PicardHtsPath output = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR.getURIString() + "test", ".dict");
+        final IOPath output = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR, "", ".dict");
 
         final String[] argv = {
                 "REFERENCE=" + inputReference.getURI(),
@@ -310,7 +311,7 @@ public void testCloud(final PicardHtsPath inputReference) {
         };
 
         // This is the "original" dictionary that lives in gs://hellbender/test/resources/
-        final PicardHtsPath expectedOutputPath = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_INPUTS_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "hg19mini.dict");
+        final IOPath expectedOutputPath = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_INPUTS_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "hg19mini.dict");
         Assert.assertEquals(runPicardCommandLine(argv), 0);
         final SAMSequenceDictionary expectedDictionary = SAMSequenceDictionaryExtractor.extractDictionary(expectedOutputPath.toPath());
         final SAMSequenceDictionary actualDictionary = SAMSequenceDictionaryExtractor.extractDictionary(output.toPath());
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/sam/DownsampleSamTest.java b/src/test/java/picard/sam/DownsampleSamTest.java
index 9e31332290..cd35d6c791 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picard/sam/DownsampleSamTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/sam/DownsampleSamTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package picard.sam;
 
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import htsjdk.samtools.*;
 import htsjdk.samtools.metrics.MetricsFile;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.BufferedLineReader;
@@ -137,14 +138,14 @@ public void testDownsampleStrategies(final double fraction, final Strategy strat
             testDownsampleWorker(new PicardHtsPath(tempSamFile), fraction, strategy.name(), seed);
     }
 
-    private PicardHtsPath testDownsampleWorker(final PicardHtsPath samFile,  final double fraction, final String strategy, final Integer seed) throws IOException {
+    private IOPath testDownsampleWorker(final IOPath samFile,  final double fraction, final String strategy, final Integer seed) throws IOException {
         return testDownsampleWorker(samFile, fraction, strategy, seed, Optional.empty(), Optional.empty(), Optional.empty());
     }
 
-    private PicardHtsPath testDownsampleWorker(final PicardHtsPath samFile,  final double fraction, final String strategy, final Integer seed,
-                                               final Optional<PicardHtsPath> outputFile, final Optional<PicardHtsPath> metricsFile,
-                                               final Optional<PicardHtsPath> referenceFile) throws IOException {
-        final PicardHtsPath downsampled = outputFile.isEmpty() ? new PicardHtsPath(File.createTempFile("DownsampleSam", ".bam", tempDir)) : outputFile.get();
+    private IOPath testDownsampleWorker(final IOPath samFile,  final double fraction, final String strategy, final Integer seed,
+                                        final Optional<IOPath> outputFile, final Optional<IOPath> metricsFile,
+                                        final Optional<IOPath> referenceFile) throws IOException {
+        final IOPath downsampled = outputFile.isEmpty() ? new PicardHtsPath(File.createTempFile("DownsampleSam", ".bam", tempDir)) : outputFile.get();
 
         final List<String> args = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(
                 "INPUT=" + samFile.getURIString(),
@@ -169,7 +170,7 @@ private PicardHtsPath testDownsampleWorker(final PicardHtsPath samFile,  final d
         // temporarily skip this check for cram files until ValidateSam is updated the support cloud reference input
         if (! downsampled.isCram()){
             final ValidateSamFile validateSamFile = new ValidateSamFile();
-            validateSamFile.INPUT = downsampled;
+            validateSamFile.INPUT = PicardHtsPath.fromPath(downsampled.toPath());
             Assert.assertEquals(validateSamFile.doWork(), 0);
         }
 
@@ -235,7 +236,7 @@ public Object[][] repeatedDownsamplingProvider() {
 
     @Test(dataProvider = "RepeatedDownsamplingProvider")
     public void testRepeatedDownsampling(List<Strategy> strategies, List<Integer> seeds) throws IOException {
-        PicardHtsPath input = new PicardHtsPath(tempSamFile);
+        IOPath input = new PicardHtsPath(tempSamFile);
         final long nReadsOriginal = SamTestUtil.countSamTotalRecord(input.toPath());
         double totalFraction = 1;
         for (int i = 0 ; i < strategies.size(); i++) {
@@ -267,21 +268,25 @@ public Object[][] testCloudCramDataProvider() {
     }
 
     @Test(groups = "cloud", dataProvider = "testCloudBamDataProvider")
-    public void testCloudBam(final PicardHtsPath inputSAM, final boolean outputInCloud, final boolean createMetrics) throws IOException {
-        final Optional<PicardHtsPath> output = outputInCloud ?
-                Optional.of(PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_OUTPUT_DEFAULT_GCLOUD + "downsample", ".bam")) :
+    public void testCloudBam(final IOPath inputSAM, final boolean outputInCloud, final boolean createMetrics) throws IOException {
+        final IOPath outputRoot = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_OUTPUT_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "DownsampleSam/downsample/");
+        final IOPath metricsOutputRoot = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_OUTPUT_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "DownsampleSam/metrics/");
+
+        final Optional<IOPath> output = outputInCloud ?
+                Optional.of(PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(outputRoot, "", ".bam")) :
                 Optional.empty();
-        final Optional<PicardHtsPath> metricsFile = createMetrics ?
-                Optional.of(PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_OUTPUT_DEFAULT_GCLOUD + "metrics", ".txt")) :
+        final Optional<IOPath> metricsFile = createMetrics ?
+                Optional.of(PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(metricsOutputRoot, "", ".txt")) :
                 Optional.empty();
         testDownsampleWorker(inputSAM, 0.5, ConstantMemory.toString(), DEFAULT_RANDOM_SEED, output, metricsFile, Optional.empty());
     }
 
     // Isolate the test case for cram input from the above tests for bams, since the tool is much slower with a
     @Test(groups = "cloud", dataProvider = "testCloudCramDataProvider")
-    public void testCloudCram(final PicardHtsPath inputCRAM, final boolean outputInCloud, final PicardHtsPath reference) throws IOException {
-        final Optional<PicardHtsPath> output = outputInCloud ?
-                Optional.of(PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_OUTPUT_DEFAULT_GCLOUD + "downsample", ".cram")) :
+    public void testCloudCram(final IOPath inputCRAM, final boolean outputInCloud, final IOPath reference) throws IOException {
+        final IOPath outputRoot = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.TEST_OUTPUT_DEFAULT_GCLOUD, "DownsampleSam/output/");
+        final Optional<IOPath> output = outputInCloud ?
+                Optional.of(PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath( outputRoot, "", ".cram")) :
                 Optional.empty();
         testDownsampleWorker(inputCRAM, 0.5, ConstantMemory.toString(), DEFAULT_RANDOM_SEED, output, Optional.empty(), Optional.of(reference));
     }
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/sam/RevertSamTest.java b/src/test/java/picard/sam/RevertSamTest.java
index 00461b55b7..095684471f 100755
--- a/src/test/java/picard/sam/RevertSamTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/sam/RevertSamTest.java
@@ -610,17 +610,17 @@ public void testHardClipRoundTrip() throws Exception {
     private final static boolean OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP = true;
     @DataProvider(name = "cloudTestData")
     public Object[][] getCloudTestData() {
-        final PicardHtsPath tempCloudCram = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR, "RevertSam", ".cram");
-        final PicardHtsPath tempLocalCram = PicardBucketUtils.getLocalTempFilePath("RevertSam", ".cram");
+        final IOPath tempCloudCram = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR, "RevertSam", ".cram");
+        final IOPath tempLocalCram = PicardBucketUtils.getLocalTempFilePath("RevertSam", ".cram");
         return new Object[][]{
                 // Output by read group without the output map, write output bams in the cloud.
                 {NA12878_MEDIUM_GCLOUD, PicardBucketUtils.getRandomGCSDirectory(DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_RELATIVE_PATH), OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, null, null },
                 // Output by read group using the output map, write output bams in the cloud
-                {NA12878_MEDIUM_GCLOUD, null, OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR.getURIString(), null },
+                {NA12878_MEDIUM_GCLOUD, null, OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR, null },
                 // Output by read group using the local output map, write output bams in the cloud
-                {NA12878_MEDIUM_GCLOUD, null, OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, REVERT_SAM_LOCAL_TEST_DATA_DIR, null },
+                {NA12878_MEDIUM_GCLOUD, null, OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, new PicardHtsPath(REVERT_SAM_LOCAL_TEST_DATA_DIR), null },
                 // Cram input, output a CRAM for each read group
-                {NA12878_MEDIUM_CRAM_GCLOUD, null, OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR.getURIString(), HG19_CHR2021 },
+                {NA12878_MEDIUM_CRAM_GCLOUD, null, OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR, HG19_CHR2021 },
                 // Cram input in the cloud, single cloud cram output
                 {NA12878_MEDIUM_CRAM_GCLOUD, tempCloudCram, !OUTPUT_BY_READ_GROUP, null, HG19_CHR2021 },
                 // Cram input in the cloud, single local cram output
@@ -639,16 +639,16 @@ public Object[][] getCloudTestData() {
      *
      * Also see RevertSam::createOutputMapFromReadGroups(), which does part of what this method does (creates a dictionary rather than two lists).
      */
-    private PicardHtsPath getTmpTestReadGroupMapTable(final IOPath sam, final String perReadGroupPathBase) {
+    private IOPath getTmpTestReadGroupMapTable(final IOPath sam, final IOPath perReadGroupPathBase) {
         ValidationUtils.validateArg(sam.getExtension().isPresent(), "The variable sam must be a SAM file but is missing an extension: " + sam.getURIString());
 
         final String samExtension = sam.getExtension().get();
-        final PicardHtsPath perReadGroupTableFile = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR.getURIString(), ".txt");
+        final IOPath perReadGroupTableFile = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(DEFAULT_CLOUD_TEST_OUTPUT_DIR, "", ".txt");
         final List<String> readGroups = getReadGroups(sam.toPath()).stream().map(rg -> rg.getId()).collect(Collectors.toList());
         final List<String> readGroupOutput = new ArrayList<>();
 
         for (String readGroup : readGroups){
-            final PicardHtsPath readGroupOutputPath = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(perReadGroupPathBase, readGroup, samExtension);
+            final IOPath readGroupOutputPath = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(perReadGroupPathBase, readGroup, samExtension);
             readGroupOutput.add(readGroupOutputPath.getURIString());
         }
 
@@ -705,8 +705,8 @@ private List<SAMReadGroupRecord> getReadGroups(final Path sam){
      * @param outputMapDir The location for a dynamically created output map file. May be null.
      */
     @Test(dataProvider = "cloudTestData", groups = "cloud")
-    public void testCloud(final PicardHtsPath inputSAM, final PicardHtsPath outputPath, final boolean outputByReadGroup,
-                          final String outputMapDir, final PicardHtsPath reference) {
+    public void testCloud(final IOPath inputSAM, final IOPath outputPath, final boolean outputByReadGroup,
+                          final IOPath outputMapDir, final IOPath reference) {
         final List<String> args = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(
                 "INPUT=" + inputSAM.getURIString(),
                 "OUTPUT_BY_READGROUP=" + outputByReadGroup));
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ public void testCloud(final PicardHtsPath inputSAM, final PicardHtsPath outputPa
             args.add("OUTPUT=" + outputPath.getURIString());
         }
 
-        PicardHtsPath outputMap = null;
+        IOPath outputMap = null;
         if (outputMapDir != null){
             // Dynamically create a temporary output map file based on the read groups in inputSAM.
             outputMap = getTmpTestReadGroupMapTable(inputSAM, outputMapDir);
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtils.java b/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtils.java
index a0230fe4b9..85a9d7526d 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtils.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtils.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package picard.util;
 
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import picard.nio.PicardHtsPath;
 
 public final class GCloudTestUtils {
@@ -48,8 +49,8 @@ public static String getTestProject() {
      *
      * @return PICARD_TEST_STAGING env. var if defined, or {@value #TEST_STAGING_DEFAULT.getURIString()}
      */
-    public static String getTestStaging() {
-        return getSystemProperty("PICARD_TEST_STAGING", TEST_STAGING_DEFAULT_GCLOUD.getURIString());
+    public static IOPath getTestStaging() {
+        return new PicardHtsPath(getSystemProperty("PICARD_TEST_STAGING", TEST_STAGING_DEFAULT_GCLOUD.getURIString()));
     }
 
     /**
@@ -58,8 +59,8 @@ public static String getTestStaging() {
      *
      * @return PICARD_TEST_INPUTS env. var if defined or {@value #TEST_INPUTS_DEFAULT.getURIString()}.
      */
-    public static String getTestInputPath() {
-        return getSystemProperty("PICARD_TEST_INPUTS", TEST_INPUTS_DEFAULT_GCLOUD.getURIString());
+    public static IOPath getTestInputPath() {
+        return new PicardHtsPath(getSystemProperty("PICARD_TEST_INPUTS", TEST_INPUTS_DEFAULT_GCLOUD.getURIString()));
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtilsUnitTest.java b/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtilsUnitTest.java
index 55a64eb4f7..e5a78f6ced 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtilsUnitTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/util/GCloudTestUtilsUnitTest.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ public void testDownload() throws IOException {
 
     @Test(groups = "bucket")
     public void testUpload() throws IOException {
-        final Path uploadDir = Files.createTempDirectory(IOUtil.getPath(GCloudTestUtils.getTestStaging()), "picardTest");
+        final Path uploadDir = Files.createTempDirectory(GCloudTestUtils.getTestStaging().toPath(), "picardTest");
         final Path txtUpload = uploadDir.resolve("tmp.txt");
         try {
             Assert.assertFalse(Files.exists(txtUpload));
diff --git a/src/test/java/picard/util/IntervalListToolsTest.java b/src/test/java/picard/util/IntervalListToolsTest.java
index 19bc363c38..d737aa0d93 100644
--- a/src/test/java/picard/util/IntervalListToolsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/picard/util/IntervalListToolsTest.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
  */
 package picard.util;
 
+import htsjdk.io.IOPath;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.IOUtil;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.Interval;
 import htsjdk.samtools.util.IntervalList;
@@ -59,8 +60,8 @@
 
 public class IntervalListToolsTest extends CommandLineProgramTest {
     private static final String TEST_DATA_DIR = "testdata/picard/util/";
-    private static final String CLOUD_DATA_DIR = GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath() + "picard/intervals/";
-    private static final String CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR = GCloudTestUtils.getTestStaging() + "picard/";
+    private static final IOPath CLOUD_DATA_DIR = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.getTestInputPath(), "picard/intervals/");
+    private static final IOPath CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR = PicardHtsPath.resolve(GCloudTestUtils.getTestStaging(), "picard/");
     private final Path scatterable = Paths.get(TEST_DATA_DIR, "scatterable.interval_list");
     private final PicardHtsPath scatterableCloud = new PicardHtsPath(CLOUD_DATA_DIR + "scatterable.interval_list");
     private final Path scatterableStdin = Paths.get(TEST_DATA_DIR, "scatterable_stdin");
@@ -242,9 +243,8 @@ private IntervalList tester(final IntervalListTools.Action action) {
 
     private IntervalList tester(final IntervalListTools.Action action, final boolean invert, final boolean unique,
                                 final boolean dontMergeAbutting, final Path input1, final Path input2, final boolean cloudOutput) {
-        final String outputDirFullName = cloudOutput ? CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR : null;
         final String prefix = "IntervalListTools";
-        final PicardHtsPath output = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(outputDirFullName, prefix, INTERVAL_LIST_EXTENSION);
+        final IOPath output = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(cloudOutput ? CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR : null, prefix, INTERVAL_LIST_EXTENSION);
         final List<String> args = buildStandardTesterArguments(action, invert, unique, dontMergeAbutting, input1, input2);
         args.add("OUTPUT=" + output);
         Assert.assertEquals(runPicardCommandLine(args), 0);
@@ -263,9 +263,8 @@ private long testerCountOutput(IntervalListTools.Action action, IntervalListTool
     private long testerCountOutput(IntervalListTools.Action action, IntervalListTools.Output outputValue, boolean invert,
                                    boolean unique, boolean dontMergeAbutting, Path input1, Path input2,
                                    final boolean cloudOutput) throws IOException {
-        final String outputDirFullName = cloudOutput ? CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR : null;
         final String prefix = "IntervalListTools";
-        final PicardHtsPath countOutput = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(outputDirFullName, prefix, ".txt");
+        final IOPath countOutput = PicardBucketUtils.getTempFilePath(cloudOutput ? CLOUD_OUTPUT_DIR : null, prefix, ".txt");
 
         final List<String> args = buildStandardTesterArguments(action, invert, unique, dontMergeAbutting, input1, input2);
         args.add("OUTPUT_VALUE=" + outputValue);