diff --git a/src/types/privatekubectl.test.ts b/src/types/privatekubectl.test.ts
index 91cad2c85..068f535cb 100644
--- a/src/types/privatekubectl.test.ts
+++ b/src/types/privatekubectl.test.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import {
 import * as exec from '@actions/exec'
 
 describe('Private kubectl', () => {
-   const testString = `kubectl annotate -f /tmp/testdir/test.yml,/tmp/test2.yml,/tmp/testdir/subdir/test3.yml -f /tmp/test4.yml --filename /tmp/test5.yml actions.github.com/k8s-deploy={"run":"3498366832","repository":"jaiveerk/k8s-deploy","workflow":"Minikube Integration Tests - private cluster","workflowFileName":"run-integration-tests-private.yml","jobName":"run-integration-test","createdBy":"jaiveerk","runUri":"https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/actions/runs/3498366832","commit":"c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75","lastSuccessRunCommit":"NA","branch":"refs/heads/main","deployTimestamp":1668787848577,"dockerfilePaths":{"nginx:1.14.2":""},"manifestsPaths":["https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/blob/c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75/test/integration/manifests/test.yml"],"helmChartPaths":[],"provider":"GitHub"} --overwrite --namespace test-3498366832`
+   const testString = `kubectl annotate -f /tmp/testdir/test.yml,/tmp/test2.yml,/tmp/testdir/subdir/test3.yml -f /tmp/test4.yml --filename /tmp/test5.yml actions.github.com/k8s-deploy={"run":"3498366832","repository":"jaiveerk/k8s-deploy","workflow":"Minikube Integration Tests - private cluster","workflowFileName":"run-integration-tests-private.yml","jobName":"run-integration-test","createdBy":"jaiveerk","runUri":"https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/actions/runs/3498366832","commit":"c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75","lastSuccessRunCommit":"NA","branch":"refs/heads/main","deployTimestamp":1668787848577,"dockerfilePaths":{"nginx:1.14.2":""},"manifestsPaths":["https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/blob/c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75/test/integration/test.yml"],"helmChartPaths":[],"provider":"GitHub"} --overwrite --namespace test-3498366832`
    const mockKube = new PrivateKubectl(
       'kubectlPath',
       'namespace',
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ describe('Private kubectl', () => {
       expect(
          replaceFileNamesWithShallowNamesRelativeToTemp(testString)
       ).toEqual(
-         `kubectl annotate -f testdir-test.yml,test2.yml,testdir-subdir-test3.yml -f test4.yml --filename test5.yml actions.github.com/k8s-deploy={"run":"3498366832","repository":"jaiveerk/k8s-deploy","workflow":"Minikube Integration Tests - private cluster","workflowFileName":"run-integration-tests-private.yml","jobName":"run-integration-test","createdBy":"jaiveerk","runUri":"https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/actions/runs/3498366832","commit":"c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75","lastSuccessRunCommit":"NA","branch":"refs/heads/main","deployTimestamp":1668787848577,"dockerfilePaths":{"nginx:1.14.2":""},"manifestsPaths":["https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/blob/c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75/test/integration/manifests/test.yml"],"helmChartPaths":[],"provider":"GitHub"} --overwrite --namespace test-3498366832`
+         `kubectl annotate -f testdir-test.yml,test2.yml,testdir-subdir-test3.yml -f test4.yml --filename test5.yml actions.github.com/k8s-deploy={"run":"3498366832","repository":"jaiveerk/k8s-deploy","workflow":"Minikube Integration Tests - private cluster","workflowFileName":"run-integration-tests-private.yml","jobName":"run-integration-test","createdBy":"jaiveerk","runUri":"https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/actions/runs/3498366832","commit":"c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75","lastSuccessRunCommit":"NA","branch":"refs/heads/main","deployTimestamp":1668787848577,"dockerfilePaths":{"nginx:1.14.2":""},"manifestsPaths":["https://github.com/jaiveerk/k8s-deploy/blob/c63b323186ea1320a31290de6dcc094c06385e75/test/integration/test.yml"],"helmChartPaths":[],"provider":"GitHub"} --overwrite --namespace test-3498366832`
       )
    })
 
diff --git a/src/types/privatekubectl.ts b/src/types/privatekubectl.ts
index 4eeb54e37..7c94f88ec 100644
--- a/src/types/privatekubectl.ts
+++ b/src/types/privatekubectl.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ export class PrivateKubectl extends Kubectl {
 
       if (addFileFlag) {
          const tempDirectory = getTempDirectory()
-         privateClusterArgs.push(...['--file', tempDirectory])
+         eo.cwd = path.join(tempDirectory, 'manifests')
+         privateClusterArgs.push(...['--file', '.'])
       }
 
       core.debug(
@@ -85,14 +86,8 @@ export class PrivateKubectl extends Kubectl {
       return str.includes('-f ') || str.includes('filename ')
    }
 
-   private createTempManifestsDirectory() {
-      if (!fs.existsSync('/tmp/manifests')) {
-         fs.mkdirSync('/tmp/manifests', {recursive: true})
-      }
-   }
-
    private moveFileToTempManifestDir(file: string) {
-      this.createTempManifestsDirectory()
+      createTempManifestsDirectory()
       if (!fs.existsSync('/tmp/' + file)) {
          core.debug(
             '/tmp/' +
@@ -124,6 +119,15 @@ export class PrivateKubectl extends Kubectl {
    }
 }
 
+function createTempManifestsDirectory(): string {
+   const manifestsDirPath = path.join(getTempDirectory(), 'manifests')
+   if (!fs.existsSync(manifestsDirPath)) {
+      fs.mkdirSync(manifestsDirPath, {recursive: true})
+   }
+
+   return manifestsDirPath
+}
+
 export function replaceFileNamesWithShallowNamesRelativeToTemp(
    kubectlCmd: string
 ) {
@@ -133,7 +137,10 @@ export function replaceFileNamesWithShallowNamesRelativeToTemp(
       const relativeName = path.relative(getTempDirectory(), filename)
       const shallowName = relativeName.replace(/\//g, '-')
 
-      const shallowPath = path.join(getTempDirectory(), shallowName)
+      // make manifests dir in temp if it doesn't already exist
+      const manifestsTempDir = createTempManifestsDirectory()
+
+      const shallowPath = path.join(manifestsTempDir, shallowName)
       core.debug(
          `moving contents from ${filename} to shallow location at ${shallowPath}`
       )