diff --git a/core/Plugin/Manager.php b/core/Plugin/Manager.php
index 44deebf1ce1..1d25793433e 100644
--- a/core/Plugin/Manager.php
+++ b/core/Plugin/Manager.php
@@ -669,6 +669,7 @@ private function reloadPlugins()
 
         $this->pluginsToLoad = array_unique($this->pluginsToLoad);
 
+        $pluginsToPostPendingEventsTo = array();
         foreach ($this->pluginsToLoad as $pluginName) {
             if (!$this->isPluginLoaded($pluginName)
                 && !$this->isPluginThirdPartyAndBogus($pluginName)
@@ -678,9 +679,14 @@ private function reloadPlugins()
                     continue;
                 }
 
-                EventDispatcher::getInstance()->postPendingEventsTo($newPlugin);
+                $pluginsToPostPendingEventsTo[] = $newPlugin;
             }
         }
+
+        // post pending events after all plugins are successfully loaded
+        foreach ($pluginsToPostPendingEventsTo as $plugin) {
+            EventDispatcher::getInstance()->postPendingEventsTo($plugin);
+        }
     }
 
     public function getIgnoredBogusPlugins()
diff --git a/core/View.php b/core/View.php
index 8505aafe3fb..4afea486616 100644
--- a/core/View.php
+++ b/core/View.php
@@ -134,9 +134,14 @@ public function __construct($templateFile)
         $this->initializeTwig();
 
         $this->piwik_version = Version::VERSION;
-        $this->piwikUrl = SettingsPiwik::getPiwikUrl();
         $this->userLogin = Piwik::getCurrentUserLogin();
         $this->isSuperUser = Access::getInstance()->hasSuperUserAccess(); // TODO: redundancy w/ userIsSuperUser
+
+        try {
+            $this->piwikUrl = SettingsPiwik::getPiwikUrl();
+        } catch (Exception $ex) {
+            // pass (occurs when DB cannot be connected to, perhaps piwik URL cache should be stored in config file...)
+        }
     }
 
     /**
@@ -337,8 +342,8 @@ public function assign($var, $value = null)
      */
     static public function clearCompiledTemplates()
     {
-        $view = new View(null);
-        $view->twig->clearTemplateCache();
+        $twig = new Twig();
+        $twig->getTwigEnvironment()->clearTemplateCache();
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/PHPUnit/UI b/tests/PHPUnit/UI
index f18a9102aa4..f744d26a33b 160000
--- a/tests/PHPUnit/UI
+++ b/tests/PHPUnit/UI
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit f18a9102aa434db63bfdd2c6d47d9ee4fca77581
+Subproject commit f744d26a33b64570a039d65c23c7dfaaff1a245a
diff --git a/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/app.js b/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/app.js
index ee9ad303140..8a67e68ed6f 100644
--- a/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/app.js
+++ b/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/app.js
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ Application.prototype.loadTestModules = function () {
 
     // configure suites (auto-add fixture setup/teardown)
     mocha.suite.suites.forEach(function (suite) {
-        var fixture = suite.fixture || 'UITestFixture';
+        var fixture = typeof suite.fixture === 'undefined' ? 'UITestFixture' : suite.fixture;
 
         suite.beforeAll(function (done) {
             testEnvironment.setupFixture(fixture, done);
@@ -115,6 +115,11 @@ Application.prototype.loadTestModules = function () {
         suite._beforeAll.unshift(suite._beforeAll.pop());
 
         suite.afterAll(function (done) {
+            if (!fixture) {
+                done();
+                return;
+            }
+
             testEnvironment.teardownFixture(fixture, done);
         });
     });
diff --git a/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/setupDatabase.php b/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/setupDatabase.php
index e91e4ffd16f..e4efccb0e74 100644
--- a/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/setupDatabase.php
+++ b/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/setupDatabase.php
@@ -20,19 +20,21 @@
 require_once "PHPUnit/Autoload.php";
 require_once dirname(__FILE__) . "/../../../PHPUnit/bootstrap.php";
 
-if (!class_exists($fixtureClass)) {
-    $fixtureClass = "Piwik\\Tests\\Fixtures\\$fixtureClass";
-}
+if (!empty($fixtureClass)) {
+    if (!class_exists($fixtureClass)) {
+        $fixtureClass = "Piwik\\Tests\\Fixtures\\$fixtureClass";
+    }
 
-$fixture = new $fixtureClass();
-if (in_array("--persist-fixture-data", $argv)) {
-    $fixture->persistFixtureData = true;
-}
-if (in_array("--drop", $argv)) {
-    $fixture->resetPersistedFixture = true;
+    $fixture = new $fixtureClass();
+    if (in_array("--persist-fixture-data", $argv)) {
+        $fixture->persistFixtureData = true;
+    }
+    if (in_array("--drop", $argv)) {
+        $fixture->resetPersistedFixture = true;
+    }
+    $fixture->printToScreen = true;
+    $fixture->performSetUp("");
 }
-$fixture->printToScreen = true;
-$fixture->performSetUp("");
 
 // make sure symbolic links exist (phantomjs doesn't support symlink-ing yet)
 foreach (array('libs', 'plugins', 'tests', 'piwik.js') as $linkName) {
diff --git a/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/test-environment.js b/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/test-environment.js
index c371d444e31..7096b2af26b 100644
--- a/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/test-environment.js
+++ b/tests/lib/screenshot-testing/support/test-environment.js
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ TestingEnvironment.prototype.setupFixture = function (fixtureClass, done) {
     console.log("    Setting up fixture " + fixtureClass + "...");
 
     var setupFile = path.join("./support", "setupDatabase.php"),
-        processArgs = [setupFile, "--server=" + JSON.stringify(config.phpServer), "--fixture=" + fixtureClass];
+        processArgs = [setupFile, "--server=" + JSON.stringify(config.phpServer), "--fixture=" + (fixtureClass || "")];
 
     if (options['persist-fixture-data']) {
         processArgs.push('--persist-fixture-data');