diff --git a/src/charm.py b/src/charm.py
index c396b8e..776b9dc 100755
--- a/src/charm.py
+++ b/src/charm.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 import logging
 import os
+from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Optional
 
 import ops
@@ -34,7 +35,8 @@
 # store the clouds.yaml where it's easily accessible by the openstack-exporter snap
 # This is the SNAP_COMMON directory for the exporter snap, which is accessible,
 # unversioned, and retained across updates of the snap.
-OS_CLIENT_CONFIG = f"/var/snap/{SNAP_NAME}/common/clouds.yaml"
+OS_CLIENT_CONFIG = Path(f"/var/snap/{SNAP_NAME}/common/clouds.yaml")
+OS_CLIENT_CONFIG_CACERT = Path(f"/var/snap/{SNAP_NAME}/common/cacert.pem")
 
 
 class OpenstackExporterOperatorCharm(ops.CharmBase):
@@ -90,6 +92,9 @@ def _write_cloud_config(self, data: dict[str, str]) -> None:
         since v2 was removed a long time ago (Queens release)
         https://docs.openstack.org/keystone/latest/contributor/http-api.html
         """
+        OS_CLIENT_CONFIG.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+        OS_CLIENT_CONFIG_CACERT.write_text(self.config["ssl_ca"])
+
         auth_url = "{protocol}://{hostname}:{port}/v3".format(
             protocol=data["service_protocol"],
             hostname=data["service_hostname"],
@@ -110,14 +115,12 @@ def _write_cloud_config(self, data: dict[str, str]) -> None:
                         "auth_url": auth_url,
                     },
                     "verify": data["service_protocol"] == "https",
-                    "cacert": self.config["ssl_ca"],
+                    "cacert": str(OS_CLIENT_CONFIG_CACERT),
                 }
             }
         }
 
-        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(OS_CLIENT_CONFIG), exist_ok=True)
-        with open(OS_CLIENT_CONFIG, "w") as f:
-            yaml.dump(contents, f)
+        OS_CLIENT_CONFIG.write_text(yaml.dump(contents))
 
     def _get_keystone_data(self) -> dict[str, str]:
         """Get keystone data if ready, otherwise empty dict."""
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/openstack_exporter.py b/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/openstack_exporter.py
index a0020eb..54b3578 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/openstack_exporter.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/openstack_exporter.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def test_clouds_yaml(self):
         results = model.run_on_leader(APP_NAME, command)
         clouds_yaml_path = results.get("Stdout", "").strip()
         self.assertEqual(int(results.get("Code", "-1")), 0)
-        self.assertEqual(clouds_yaml_path, OS_CLIENT_CONFIG)
+        self.assertEqual(clouds_yaml_path, str(OS_CLIENT_CONFIG))
 
         # Make sure the clouds yaml is not empty and it's a valid yaml
         command = f"cat $(sudo snap get {SNAP_NAME} os-client-config)"
@@ -161,8 +161,10 @@ def test_configure_ssl_ca(self):
         results = model.run_on_leader(APP_NAME, command)
         clouds_yaml = results.get("Stdout", "").strip()
         data = yaml.safe_load(clouds_yaml)
-        cacert = data["clouds"][CLOUD_NAME]["cacert"]
-        self.assertEqual(cacert, f"{new_value}")
+        cacert_path = data["clouds"][CLOUD_NAME]["cacert"]
+
+        # Verify ssl_ca was written to the file
+        model.block_until_file_has_contents(APP_NAME, cacert_path, new_value)
 
         # Verify the exporter crashes because of wrong ssl_ca
         command = "curl -q localhost:9180/metrics"
diff --git a/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/setup.py b/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/setup.py
index 107ec80..fc0f176 100644
--- a/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/setup.py
+++ b/tests/integration/tests/charm_tests/setup.py
@@ -12,6 +12,6 @@ def setup_export_ssl_ca_config():
     model.set_application_config("openstack-exporter", {"ssl_ca": cacert})
     model.block_until_file_has_contents(
         "openstack-exporter",
-        f"/var/snap/{SNAP_NAME}/common/clouds.yaml",
+        f"/var/snap/{SNAP_NAME}/common/cacert.pem",
         "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----",
     )