diff --git a/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/CamelTestSupport.java b/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/CamelTestSupport.java
index f9471bfd455cf..e4ac89e944afd 100644
--- a/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/CamelTestSupport.java
+++ b/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/CamelTestSupport.java
@@ -698,18 +698,7 @@ private static void doStopTemplates(
     }
 
     protected void startCamelContext() throws Exception {
-        if (camelContextService != null) {
-            camelContextService.start();
-        } else {
-            if (context instanceof DefaultCamelContext) {
-                DefaultCamelContext defaultCamelContext = (DefaultCamelContext) context;
-                if (!defaultCamelContext.isStarted()) {
-                    defaultCamelContext.start();
-                }
-            } else {
-                context.start();
-            }
-        }
+        CamelContextTestHelper.startCamelContextOrService(context, camelContextService);
     }
 
     protected CamelContext createCamelContext() throws Exception {
diff --git a/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/util/CamelContextTestHelper.java b/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/util/CamelContextTestHelper.java
index ae0d6c0117cb7..af9d836a6db9c 100644
--- a/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/util/CamelContextTestHelper.java
+++ b/components/camel-test/camel-test-junit5/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/test/junit5/util/CamelContextTestHelper.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import org.apache.camel.NoSuchEndpointException;
 import org.apache.camel.RouteConfigurationsBuilder;
 import org.apache.camel.RoutesBuilder;
+import org.apache.camel.Service;
 import org.apache.camel.ServiceStatus;
 import org.apache.camel.component.mock.InterceptSendToMockEndpointStrategy;
 import org.apache.camel.component.mock.MockEndpoint;
@@ -170,4 +171,33 @@ public static void configureIncludeExcludePatterns(CamelContext context, String
             context.getCamelContextExtension().getContextPlugin(Model.class).setRouteFilterPattern(include, exclude);
         }
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Start the given context
+     * @param context the context to start
+     * @throws Exception
+     */
+    public static void startCamelContext(CamelContext context) throws Exception {
+        if (context instanceof DefaultCamelContext defaultCamelContext) {
+            if (!defaultCamelContext.isStarted()) {
+                defaultCamelContext.start();
+            }
+        } else {
+            context.start();
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Starts a CamelContext or a service managing the CamelContext. The service takes priority if provided.
+     * @param context the context to start
+     * @param camelContextService the service managing the CamelContext
+     * @throws Exception
+     */
+    public static void startCamelContextOrService(CamelContext context, Service camelContextService) throws Exception {
+        if (camelContextService != null) {
+            camelContextService.start();
+        } else {
+            CamelContextTestHelper.startCamelContext(context);
+        }
+    }
 }