diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5e1470c88..547e9bc6e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2536,7 +2536,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand 0.7.3",
  "rayon",
  "semver 0.9.0",
- "tempdir",
+ "tempfile",
  "unicode-width",
  "uucore",
  "uucore_procs",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 745393260..9f499529b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -349,7 +349,6 @@ time = "0.1"
 unindent = "0.1"
 uucore = { version=">=0.0.8", package="uucore", path="src/uucore", features=["entries"] }
 walkdir = "2.2"
-tempdir = "0.3"
 
 [target.'cfg(unix)'.dev-dependencies]
 rust-users = { version="0.10", package="users" }
diff --git a/src/uu/sort/Cargo.toml b/src/uu/sort/Cargo.toml
index 724744dc4..f06610248 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src/uu/sort/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ ouroboros = "0.9.3"
 rand = "0.7"
 rayon = "1.5"
 semver = "0.9.0"
-tempdir = "0.3.7"
+tempfile = "3"
 unicode-width = "0.1.8"
 uucore = { version=">=0.0.8", package="uucore", path="../../uucore", features=["fs"] }
 uucore_procs = { version=">=0.0.5", package="uucore_procs", path="../../uucore_procs" }
diff --git a/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs b/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs
index a304bf7c0..23a55aad0 100644
--- a/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sort/src/ext_sort.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use std::{
 
 use itertools::Itertools;
 
-use tempdir::TempDir;
+use tempfile::TempDir;
 
 use crate::{
     chunks::{self, Chunk},
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ const MIN_BUFFER_SIZE: usize = 8_000;
 
 /// Sort files by using auxiliary files for storing intermediate chunks (if needed), and output the result.
 pub fn ext_sort(files: &mut impl Iterator<Item = Box<dyn Read + Send>>, settings: &GlobalSettings) {
-    let tmp_dir = crash_if_err!(1, TempDir::new_in(&settings.tmp_dir, "uutils_sort"));
+    let tmp_dir = crash_if_err!(1, tempfile::Builder::new().prefix("uutils_sort").tempdir_in(&settings.tmp_dir));
     let (sorted_sender, sorted_receiver) = std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel(1);
     let (recycled_sender, recycled_receiver) = std::sync::mpsc::sync_channel(1);
     thread::spawn({
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_cat.rs b/tests/by-util/test_cat.rs
index 4bb673b95..adda905b3 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_cat.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_cat.rs
@@ -406,10 +406,9 @@ fn test_domain_socket() {
     use std::io::prelude::*;
     use std::sync::{Arc, Barrier};
     use std::thread;
-    use tempdir::TempDir;
     use unix_socket::UnixListener;
 
-    let dir = TempDir::new("unix_socket").expect("failed to create dir");
+    let dir = tempfile::Builder::new().prefix("unix_socket").tempdir().expect("failed to create dir");
     let socket_path = dir.path().join("sock");
     let listener = UnixListener::bind(&socket_path).expect("failed to create socket");
 
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
index 2ae57ad7f..01c5ab5c4 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_ls.rs
@@ -19,9 +19,7 @@ use std::path::PathBuf;
 #[cfg(not(windows))]
 use std::sync::Mutex;
 #[cfg(not(windows))]
-extern crate tempdir;
-#[cfg(not(windows))]
-use self::tempdir::TempDir;
+extern crate tempfile;
 
 #[cfg(not(windows))]
 lazy_static! {
@@ -1087,7 +1085,7 @@ fn test_ls_indicator_style() {
     {
         use self::unix_socket::UnixListener;
 
-        let dir = TempDir::new("unix_socket").expect("failed to create dir");
+        let dir = tempfile::Builder::new().prefix("unix_socket").tempdir().expect("failed to create dir");
         let socket_path = dir.path().join("sock");
         let _listener = UnixListener::bind(&socket_path).expect("failed to create socket");