diff --git a/monai/networks/nets/segresnet.py b/monai/networks/nets/segresnet.py
index b722e5d70f..d7a4692f98 100644
--- a/monai/networks/nets/segresnet.py
+++ b/monai/networks/nets/segresnet.py
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ def __init__(
             in_channels=in_channels,
             out_channels=out_channels,
             dropout_prob=dropout_prob,
+            act=act,
             norm=norm,
             use_conv_final=use_conv_final,
             blocks_down=blocks_down,
@@ -318,25 +319,11 @@ def _get_vae_loss(self, net_input: torch.Tensor, vae_input: torch.Tensor):
 
     def forward(self, x):
         net_input = x
-        x = self.convInit(x)
-        if self.dropout_prob is not None:
-            x = self.dropout(x)
-
-        down_x = []
-        for down in self.down_layers:
-            x = down(x)
-            down_x.append(x)
-
+        x, down_x = self.encode(x)
         down_x.reverse()
 
         vae_input = x
-
-        for i, (up, upl) in enumerate(zip(self.up_samples, self.up_layers)):
-            x = up(x) + down_x[i + 1]
-            x = upl(x)
-
-        if self.use_conv_final:
-            x = self.conv_final(x)
+        x = self.decode(x, down_x)
 
         if self.training:
             vae_loss = self._get_vae_loss(net_input, vae_input)
diff --git a/tests/test_segresnet.py b/tests/test_segresnet.py
index ea6ca5b5dd..eada35ed66 100644
--- a/tests/test_segresnet.py
+++ b/tests/test_segresnet.py
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@
                             "init_filters": init_filters,
                             "out_channels": out_channels,
                             "upsample_mode": upsample_mode,
+                            "act": ("leakyrelu", {"inplace": True, "negative_slope": 0.01}),
                             "input_image_size": ([16] * spatial_dims),
                             "vae_estimate_std": vae_estimate_std,
                         },