diff --git a/test/conftest.py b/test/conftest.py
index 92b3430..c0bbe0a 100644
--- a/test/conftest.py
+++ b/test/conftest.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from sensai.util.logging import LOG_DEFAULT_FORMAT, configure
 from multilspy.language_server import SyncLanguageServer
 from multilspy.multilspy_config import Language, MultilspyConfig
 from multilspy.multilspy_logger import MultilspyLogger
+from serena.util.file_system import GitignoreParser
 
 configure(level=logging.DEBUG)
 
@@ -26,8 +27,14 @@ def get_repo_path(language: Language) -> Path:
     return Path(__file__).parent / "resources" / "repos" / language / "test_repo"
 
 
-def create_ls(language: Language, repo_path: str):
-    config = MultilspyConfig(code_language=language)
+def create_ls(language: Language, repo_path: str | None = None, ignored_paths: list[str] | None = None) -> SyncLanguageServer:
+    ignored_paths = ignored_paths or []
+    if repo_path is None:
+        repo_path = str(get_repo_path(language))
+    gitignore_parser = GitignoreParser(str(repo_path))
+    for spec in gitignore_parser.get_ignore_specs():
+        ignored_paths.extend(spec.patterns)
+    config = MultilspyConfig(code_language=language, ignored_paths=ignored_paths)
     logger = MultilspyLogger(log_level=logging.DEBUG)
 
     # Simple way: Use basicConfig to set format for all handlers
diff --git a/test/multilspy/python/test_retrieval_with_ignored_dirs.py b/test/multilspy/python/test_retrieval_with_ignored_dirs.py
index 70f0e37..0db668e 100644
--- a/test/multilspy/python/test_retrieval_with_ignored_dirs.py
+++ b/test/multilspy/python/test_retrieval_with_ignored_dirs.py
@@ -4,45 +4,18 @@ from pathlib import Path
 import pytest
 
 from multilspy.language_server import SyncLanguageServer
-from multilspy.multilspy_config import Language, MultilspyConfig
-from multilspy.multilspy_logger import MultilspyLogger
-from serena.util.file_system import GitignoreParser
-from test.conftest import get_repo_path
+from multilspy.multilspy_config import Language
+from test.conftest import create_ls
 
 # This mark will be applied to all tests in this module
 pytestmark = pytest.mark.python
 
 
-def create_ls_with_ignored_dirs(
-    ignored_paths: list[str] | None = None,
-    repo_path: Path | None = None,
-    language: Language = Language.PYTHON,
-) -> SyncLanguageServer:
-    """Helper function to create a SyncLanguageServer with ignored directories."""
-    if ignored_paths is None:
-        ignored_paths = []
-
-    if repo_path is None:
-        repo_path = get_repo_path(language)
-
-    gitignore_parser = GitignoreParser(str(repo_path))
-    for spec in gitignore_parser.get_ignore_specs():
-        ignored_paths.extend(spec.patterns)
-
-    config = MultilspyConfig(
-        code_language=language,
-        trace_lsp_communication=False,
-        ignored_paths=ignored_paths,  # Configure the relative path to be ignored
-    )
-    logger = MultilspyLogger()
-    return SyncLanguageServer.create(config, logger, str(repo_path))
-
-
 @pytest.fixture(scope="module")
 def ls_with_ignored_dirs() -> Generator[SyncLanguageServer, None, None]:
     """Fixture to set up an LS for the python test repo with the 'scripts' directory ignored."""
     ignored_paths = ["scripts", "custom_test"]
-    ls = create_ls_with_ignored_dirs(ignored_paths=ignored_paths, language=Language.PYTHON)
+    ls = create_ls(ignored_paths=ignored_paths, language=Language.PYTHON)
     ls.start()
     try:
         yield ls
@@ -77,7 +50,7 @@ def test_find_references_ignores_dir(ls_with_ignored_dirs: SyncLanguageServer):
 def test_refs_and_symbols_with_glob_patterns(repo_path: Path) -> None:
     """Tests that refs and symbols with glob patterns are ignored."""
     ignored_paths = ["*ipts", "custom_t*"]
-    ls = create_ls_with_ignored_dirs(ignored_paths=ignored_paths, repo_path=repo_path, language=Language.PYTHON)
+    ls = create_ls(ignored_paths=ignored_paths, repo_path=str(repo_path), language=Language.PYTHON)
     ls.start()
     # same as in the above tests
     root = ls.request_full_symbol_tree()[0]