diff --git a/UnitTestContrib/test/unit/FoswikiTestCase.pm b/UnitTestContrib/test/unit/FoswikiTestCase.pm
index 12ba5b39ad..e006192cc4 100644
--- a/UnitTestContrib/test/unit/FoswikiTestCase.pm
+++ b/UnitTestContrib/test/unit/FoswikiTestCase.pm
@@ -707,9 +707,10 @@ __DO NOT CALL session->finish() yourself__
 sub createNewFoswikiSession {
     my $this = shift;
     
-    $this->{session}->finish();
+    $this->{session}->finish() if $this->{session};
     $this->{session} = new Foswiki(@_ );
     $Foswiki::Plugins::SESSION = $this->{session};
+    ($this->{test_topicObject}) = Foswiki::Func::readTopic($this->{test_web}, $this->{test_topic});
     
     return $this->{session};
 }