diff --git a/.rspec b/.rspec
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ab5f55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.rspec
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+--color
+--format
+progress
+--backtrace
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/getvar_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/getvar_spec.rb
index 16edd98..271f15e 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/getvar_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/getvar_spec.rb
@@ -23,12 +23,12 @@ describe Puppet::Parser::Functions.function(:getvar) do
   describe 'when calling getvar from puppet' do
 
     it "should not compile when no arguments are passed" do
-      Puppet[:code] = 'getvar()'
+      Puppet[:code] = '$rval = getvar()'
       get_scope
       expect { @scope.compiler.compile }.should raise_error(Puppet::ParseError, /wrong number of arguments/)
     end
     it "should not compile when too many arguments are passed" do
-      Puppet[:code] = 'getvar("foo::bar", "baz")'
+      Puppet[:code] = '$rval = getvar("foo::bar", "baz")'
       get_scope
       expect { @scope.compiler.compile }.should raise_error(Puppet::ParseError, /wrong number of arguments/)
     end
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/has_key_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/has_key_spec.rb
index d1dcd15..bf91509 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/has_key_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/has_key_spec.rb
@@ -22,15 +22,15 @@ describe Puppet::Parser::Functions.function(:has_key) do
 
   describe 'when calling has_key from puppet' do
     it "should not compile when no arguments are passed" do
-      Puppet[:code] = 'has_key()'
+      Puppet[:code] = '$rval = has_key()'
       expect { compiler.compile }.should raise_error(Puppet::ParseError, /wrong number of arguments/)
     end
     it "should not compile when 1 argument is passed" do
-      Puppet[:code] = "has_key('foo')"
+      Puppet[:code] = "$rval = has_key('foo')"
       expect { compiler.compile }.should raise_error(Puppet::ParseError, /wrong number of arguments/)
     end
     it "should require the first value to be a Hash" do
-      Puppet[:code] = "has_key('foo', 'bar')"
+      Puppet[:code] = "$rval = has_key('foo', 'bar')"
       expect { compiler.compile }.should raise_error(Puppet::ParseError, /expects the first argument to be a hash/)
     end
   end
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/merge_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/merge_spec.rb
index 71e1869..a91dca7 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/merge_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet/parser/functions/merge_spec.rb
@@ -22,11 +22,11 @@ describe Puppet::Parser::Functions.function(:merge) do
 
   describe 'when calling merge from puppet' do
     it "should not compile when no arguments are passed" do
-      Puppet[:code] = 'merge()'
+      Puppet[:code] = '$rval = merge()'
       expect { compiler.compile }.should raise_error(Puppet::ParseError, /wrong number of arguments/)
     end
     it "should not compile when 1 argument is passed" do
-      Puppet[:code] = "$my_hash={'one' => 1}\nmerge($my_hash)"
+      Puppet[:code] = "$my_hash={'one' => 1}\n$rval = merge($my_hash)"
       expect { compiler.compile }.should raise_error(Puppet::ParseError, /wrong number of arguments/)
     end
   end