diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index d21b397809..44b04262e7 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -8,10 +8,8 @@ language: ruby
 sudo: required
 
 before_install:
-  - ./test/script/before_install/revert_rubygems.sh
   - gem --version
   - ./test/script/before_install/gemstash_mirror.sh
-  - ./test/script/before_install/update_bundler.sh
   - bundle --version
 
 install: bundle install
diff --git a/lib/new_relic/agent.rb b/lib/new_relic/agent.rb
index 6174d563e4..83cf285924 100644
--- a/lib/new_relic/agent.rb
+++ b/lib/new_relic/agent.rb
@@ -369,8 +369,7 @@ def add_instrumentation(file_pattern)
     #
     # @api public
     def require_test_helper
-      path = File.join(__FILE__, '..', '..', '..', 'test', 'agent_helper')
-      require File.expand_path(path)
+      require File.expand_path('../../../test/agent_helper', __FILE__)
     end
 
     # This method sets the block sent to this method as a sql
diff --git a/test/helpers/logging.rb b/test/helpers/logging.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9270702900
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/logging.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+# This file is distributed under New Relic's license terms.
+# See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
+
+def with_verbose_logging
+  orig_logger = NewRelic::Agent.logger
+  $stderr.puts '', '---', ''
+  new_logger = NewRelic::Agent::AgentLogger.new('', Logger.new($stderr) )
+  NewRelic::Agent.logger = new_logger
+
+  with_config(:log_level => 'debug') do
+    yield
+  end
+ensure
+  NewRelic::Agent.logger = orig_logger
+end
+
+# Need to be a bit sloppy when testing against the logging--let everything
+# through, but check we (at least) get our particular message we care about
+def expects_logging(level, *with_params)
+  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger.stubs(level)
+  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger.expects(level).with(*with_params).once
+end
+
+def expects_no_logging(level)
+  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger.expects(level).never
+end
+
+# Sometimes need to test cases where we muddle with the global logger
+# If so, use this method to ensure it gets restored after we're done
+def without_logger
+  logger = ::NewRelic::Agent.logger
+  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger = nil
+  yield
+ensure
+  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger = logger
+end
diff --git a/test/helpers/minitest.rb b/test/helpers/minitest.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5b8075ae71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/minitest.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+# This file is distributed under New Relic's license terms.
+# See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
+
+unless defined?(Minitest::Test)
+  Minitest::Test = MiniTest::Unit::TestCase
+end
+
+# Set up a watcher for leaking agent threads out of tests.  It'd be nice to
+# disable the threads everywhere, but not all tests have newrelic.yml loaded to
+# us to rely on, so instead we'll just watch for it.
+class Minitest::Test
+
+  def before_setup
+    if self.respond_to?(:name)
+      test_method_name = self.name
+    else
+      test_method_name = self.__name__
+    end
+
+    NewRelic::Agent.logger.info("*** #{self.class}##{test_method_name} **")
+
+    @__thread_count = ruby_threads.count
+    super
+  end
+
+  def after_teardown
+    unfreeze_time
+
+    threads = ruby_threads
+    if @__thread_count != threads.count
+      backtraces = threads.map do |thread|
+        trace = Hometown.for(thread)
+        trace.backtrace.join("\n    ")
+      end.join("\n\n")
+
+      fail "Thread count changed in this test from #{@__thread_count} to #{threads.count}\n#{backtraces}"
+    end
+
+    super
+  end
+
+  # We only want to count threads that were spun up from Ruby (i.e.
+  # Thread.new) JRuby has system threads we don't care to track.
+  def ruby_threads
+    Thread.list.select { |t| Hometown.for(t) }
+  end
+
+end
+
diff --git a/test/helpers/misc.rb b/test/helpers/misc.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..72e1367234
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/misc.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+# This file is distributed under New Relic's license terms.
+# See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
+
+def default_service(stubbed_method_overrides = {})
+  service = stub
+  stubbed_method_defaults = {
+    :connect => {},
+    :shutdown => nil,
+    :agent_id= => nil,
+    :agent_id => nil,
+    :collector => stub_everything,
+    :request_timeout= =>  nil,
+    :metric_data => nil,
+    :error_data => nil,
+    :transaction_sample_data => nil,
+    :sql_trace_data => nil,
+    :get_agent_commands => [],
+    :agent_command_results => nil,
+    :analytic_event_data => nil,
+    :valid_to_marshal? => true
+  }
+
+  service.stubs(stubbed_method_defaults.merge(stubbed_method_overrides))
+
+  # When session gets called yield to the given block.
+  service.stubs(:session).yields
+  service
+end
+
+def fixture_tcp_socket( response )
+  # Don't actually talk to Google.
+  socket = stub("socket") do
+    stubs(:closed?).returns(false)
+    stubs(:close)
+    stubs(:setsockopt)
+
+    # Simulate a bunch of socket-ey stuff since Mocha doesn't really
+    # provide any other way to do it
+    class << self
+      attr_accessor :response, :write_checker
+    end
+
+    def self.check_write
+      self.write_checker = Proc.new
+    end
+
+    def self.write( buf )
+      self.write_checker.call( buf ) if self.write_checker
+      buf.length
+    end
+
+    def self.sysread( size, buf='' )
+      @data ||= response.to_s
+      raise EOFError if @data.empty?
+      buf.replace @data.slice!( 0, size )
+      buf
+    end
+    class << self
+      alias_method :read_nonblock, :sysread
+    end
+
+  end
+
+  socket.response = response
+  TCPSocket.stubs( :open ).returns( socket )
+
+  return socket
+end
+
+def dummy_mysql_explain_result(hash=nil)
+  hash ||= {
+    'Id' => '1',
+    'Select Type' => 'SIMPLE',
+    'Table' => 'sandwiches',
+    'Type' => 'range',
+    'Possible Keys' => 'PRIMARY',
+    'Key' => 'PRIMARY',
+    'Key Length' => '4',
+    'Ref' => '',
+    'Rows' => '1',
+    'Extra' => 'Using index'
+  }
+  explain_result = mock('explain result')
+  explain_result.stubs(:each_hash).yields(hash)
+  explain_result
+end
diff --git a/test/helpers/transaction_sample_test.rb b/test/helpers/transaction_sample_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..23b6a516ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/helpers/transaction_sample_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# encoding: utf-8
+# This file is distributed under New Relic's license terms.
+# See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
+
+module TransactionSampleTestHelper
+  module_function
+  def make_sql_transaction(*sql)
+    sampler = nil
+    state = NewRelic::Agent::TransactionState.tl_get
+
+    in_transaction('/path') do
+      sampler = NewRelic::Agent.instance.transaction_sampler
+      sampler.notice_push_frame(state, "a")
+      explainer = NewRelic::Agent::Instrumentation::ActiveRecord::EXPLAINER
+      sql.each {|sql_statement| sampler.notice_sql(sql_statement, {:adapter => "mysql"}, 0, state, explainer) }
+      sleep 0.02
+      yield if block_given?
+      sampler.notice_pop_frame(state, "a")
+    end
+
+    return sampler.last_sample
+  end
+
+  def run_sample_trace(path='/path')
+    sampler = nil
+    state = NewRelic::Agent::TransactionState.tl_get
+
+    request = stub(:path => path)
+
+    in_transaction("Controller/sandwiches/index", :request => request) do
+      sampler = NewRelic::Agent.instance.transaction_sampler
+      sampler.notice_sql("SELECT * FROM sandwiches WHERE bread = 'wheat'", {}, 0, state)
+      sampler.notice_push_frame(state, "ab")
+      sampler.notice_sql("SELECT * FROM sandwiches WHERE bread = 'white'", {}, 0, state)
+      yield sampler if block_given?
+      sampler.notice_pop_frame(state, "ab")
+      sampler.notice_push_frame(state, "lew")
+      sampler.notice_sql("SELECT * FROM sandwiches WHERE bread = 'french'", {}, 0, state)
+      sampler.notice_pop_frame(state, "lew")
+    end
+
+    return sampler.last_sample
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/new_relic/agent/sampled_buffer_test.rb b/test/new_relic/agent/sampled_buffer_test.rb
index b60e64e6f1..395d280177 100644
--- a/test/new_relic/agent/sampled_buffer_test.rb
+++ b/test/new_relic/agent/sampled_buffer_test.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 # This file is distributed under New Relic's license terms.
 # See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
 
-require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),'..','..','test_helper'))
-require 'test/new_relic/agent/event_buffer_test_cases'
+require File.expand_path '../../../test_helper', __FILE__
+require 'new_relic/agent/event_buffer_test_cases'
 
 module NewRelic::Agent
   class SampledBufferTest < Minitest::Test
diff --git a/test/new_relic/agent/sized_buffer_test.rb b/test/new_relic/agent/sized_buffer_test.rb
index e6e30e3dc1..23ff6ded5b 100644
--- a/test/new_relic/agent/sized_buffer_test.rb
+++ b/test/new_relic/agent/sized_buffer_test.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
 
 require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),'..','..','test_helper'))
-require 'test/new_relic/agent/event_buffer_test_cases'
+require 'new_relic/agent/event_buffer_test_cases'
 require 'new_relic/agent/sized_buffer'
 
 module NewRelic::Agent
diff --git a/test/new_relic/agent/synthetics_event_buffer_test.rb b/test/new_relic/agent/synthetics_event_buffer_test.rb
index 7dc450d7eb..878d17e153 100644
--- a/test/new_relic/agent/synthetics_event_buffer_test.rb
+++ b/test/new_relic/agent/synthetics_event_buffer_test.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
 
 require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),'..','..','test_helper'))
-require 'test/new_relic/agent/event_buffer_test_cases'
+require 'new_relic/agent/event_buffer_test_cases'
 require 'new_relic/agent/synthetics_event_buffer'
 
 module NewRelic::Agent
diff --git a/test/new_relic/rack/deferred_instrumentation_test.rb b/test/new_relic/rack/deferred_instrumentation_test.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index 3aaaac2627..0000000000
--- a/test/new_relic/rack/deferred_instrumentation_test.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
-# encoding: utf-8
-# This file is distributed under New Relic's license terms.
-# See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
-
-require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),'..','..','test_helper'))
-
-class NewRelic::Rack::DeferredInstrumentationTest < Minitest::Test
-  class TestApp
-    def call(env)
-      [200, {}, ["whatever"]]
-    end
-  end
-
-  def test_to_app_does_not_blow_up_when_rack_instrumentation_required_multiple_times
-    # We want to use two different paths to require the rack instrumentation here
-    # in order to simulate a situation that might arise where a user is
-    # explicitly requiring our rack instrumentation file, and then the agent
-    # automatically requires it as well, via a different path.
-    # On Ruby 1.8.7, this will cause the file to be evaluated multiple times.
-    path1 = "new_relic/agent/instrumentation/rack"
-    path2 = File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', '..', '..', 'lib', 'new_relic', 'agent', 'instrumentation', 'rack'))
-    refute_equal(path2, path1)
-
-    require path1
-    require path2
-
-    builder = ::Rack::Builder.new do
-      run(::NewRelic::Rack::DeferredInstrumentationTest::TestApp.new)
-    end
-
-    builder.to_app
-  end
-end
diff --git a/test/script/before_install/revert_rubygems.sh b/test/script/before_install/revert_rubygems.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 9dcac1a808..0000000000
--- a/test/script/before_install/revert_rubygems.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-#
-# revert to older rubygems version for ruby versions prior to 2.0
-#
-# TODO: remove when older rubies are deprecated, RUBY-1668
-
-set -ev
-
-if [[ `ruby --version` =~ ^ruby\ 1\. ]]; then
-  if [ -n "$GEMSTASH_MIRROR" ]; then
-    gem update --clear-sources --source $GEMSTASH_MIRROR --system 1.8.25
-  else
-    gem update --system 1.8.25
-  fi
-fi
diff --git a/test/script/before_install/update_bundler.sh b/test/script/before_install/update_bundler.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 10aa9e7714..0000000000
--- a/test/script/before_install/update_bundler.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-#
-# ruby-1.9.3 travis has bundler 1.7.6 installed, which pulls in dm-types-1.2.0
-# during the datamapper multiverse suite. this causes a dep conflict on json
-# gem. updating bundler to latest on that version pulls in dm-types-1.2.2
-# and does not cause a conflict.
-
-set -ev
-
-if [[ `ruby --version` =~ ^ruby\ 1\.9\.3 ]]; then
-  gem install bundler
-fi
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index f11613cd25..5576625546 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -2,15 +2,15 @@
 # This file is distributed under New Relic's license terms.
 # See https://github.com/newrelic/rpm/blob/master/LICENSE for complete details.
 
+# define special constant so DefaultSource.framework can return :test
 module NewRelic; TEST = true; end unless defined? NewRelic::TEST
+
 ENV['RAILS_ENV'] = 'test'
-NEWRELIC_PLUGIN_DIR = File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),".."))
-$LOAD_PATH << '.'
-$LOAD_PATH << '../../..'
-$LOAD_PATH << File.join(NEWRELIC_PLUGIN_DIR,"lib")
-$LOAD_PATH << File.join(NEWRELIC_PLUGIN_DIR,"test")
-$LOAD_PATH << File.join(NEWRELIC_PLUGIN_DIR,"ui/helpers")
-$LOAD_PATH.uniq!
+
+$: << File.expand_path('../../lib', __FILE__)
+$: << File.expand_path('../../test', __FILE__)
+$: << File.expand_path('../../ui/helpers', __FILE__) # TODO remove after #1493 merges
+$:.uniq!
 
 require 'rubygems'
 require 'rake'
@@ -18,58 +18,10 @@ module NewRelic; TEST = true; end unless defined? NewRelic::TEST
 require 'minitest/autorun'
 require 'mocha/setup'
 
-unless defined?(Minitest::Test)
-  Minitest::Test = MiniTest::Unit::TestCase
-end
-
 require 'hometown'
 Hometown.watch(::Thread)
 
-# Set up a watcher for leaking agent threads out of tests.  It'd be nice to
-# disable the threads everywhere, but not all tests have newrelic.yml loaded to
-# us to rely on, so instead we'll just watch for it.
-class Minitest::Test
-  def before_setup
-    if self.respond_to?(:name)
-      test_method_name = self.name
-    else
-      test_method_name = self.__name__
-    end
-
-    NewRelic::Agent.logger.info("*** #{self.class}##{test_method_name} **")
-
-    @__thread_count = ruby_threads.count
-    super
-  end
-
-  def after_teardown
-    unfreeze_time
-
-    threads = ruby_threads
-    if @__thread_count != threads.count
-      backtraces = threads.map do |thread|
-        trace = Hometown.for(thread)
-        trace.backtrace.join("\n    ")
-      end.join("\n\n")
-
-      fail "Thread count changed in this test from #{@__thread_count} to #{threads.count}\n#{backtraces}"
-    end
-
-    super
-  end
-
-  # We only want to count threads that were spun up from Ruby (i.e.
-  # Thread.new) JRuby has system threads we don't care to track.
-  def ruby_threads
-    Thread.list.select { |t| Hometown.for(t) }
-  end
-end
-
-Dir.glob('test/helpers/*').each { |f| require f }
-
-Dir.glob(File.join(NEWRELIC_PLUGIN_DIR,'test/helpers/*.rb')).each do |helper|
-  require helper
-end
+Dir[File.expand_path('../helpers/*', __FILE__)].each {|f| require f.sub(/.*test\//,'')}
 
 # We can speed things up in tests that don't need to load rails.
 # You can also run the tests in a mode without rails.  Many tests
@@ -79,7 +31,7 @@ def ruby_threads
   require 'newrelic_rpm'
 else
   begin
-    require 'config/environment'
+    require './config/environment'
     require 'newrelic_rpm'
   rescue LoadError
     puts "Running tests in standalone mode."
@@ -105,162 +57,3 @@ class MyApp < Rails::Application
 # This is the public method recommended for plugin developers to share our
 # agent helpers. Use it so we don't accidentally break it.
 NewRelic::Agent.require_test_helper
-
-def default_service(stubbed_method_overrides = {})
-  service = stub
-  stubbed_method_defaults = {
-    :connect => {},
-    :shutdown => nil,
-    :agent_id= => nil,
-    :agent_id => nil,
-    :collector => stub_everything,
-    :request_timeout= =>  nil,
-    :metric_data => nil,
-    :error_data => nil,
-    :transaction_sample_data => nil,
-    :sql_trace_data => nil,
-    :get_agent_commands => [],
-    :agent_command_results => nil,
-    :analytic_event_data => nil,
-    :valid_to_marshal? => true
-  }
-
-  service.stubs(stubbed_method_defaults.merge(stubbed_method_overrides))
-
-  # When session gets called yield to the given block.
-  service.stubs(:session).yields
-  service
-end
-
-def with_verbose_logging
-  orig_logger = NewRelic::Agent.logger
-  $stderr.puts '', '---', ''
-  new_logger = NewRelic::Agent::AgentLogger.new('', Logger.new($stderr) )
-  NewRelic::Agent.logger = new_logger
-
-  with_config(:log_level => 'debug') do
-    yield
-  end
-ensure
-  NewRelic::Agent.logger = orig_logger
-end
-
-# Need to be a bit sloppy when testing against the logging--let everything
-# through, but check we (at least) get our particular message we care about
-def expects_logging(level, *with_params)
-  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger.stubs(level)
-  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger.expects(level).with(*with_params).once
-end
-
-def expects_no_logging(level)
-  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger.expects(level).never
-end
-
-# Sometimes need to test cases where we muddle with the global logger
-# If so, use this method to ensure it gets restored after we're done
-def without_logger
-  logger = ::NewRelic::Agent.logger
-  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger = nil
-  yield
-ensure
-  ::NewRelic::Agent.logger = logger
-end
-
-def fixture_tcp_socket( response )
-  # Don't actually talk to Google.
-  socket = stub("socket") do
-    stubs(:closed?).returns(false)
-    stubs(:close)
-    stubs(:setsockopt)
-
-    # Simulate a bunch of socket-ey stuff since Mocha doesn't really
-    # provide any other way to do it
-    class << self
-      attr_accessor :response, :write_checker
-    end
-
-    def self.check_write
-      self.write_checker = Proc.new
-    end
-
-    def self.write( buf )
-      self.write_checker.call( buf ) if self.write_checker
-      buf.length
-    end
-
-    def self.sysread( size, buf='' )
-      @data ||= response.to_s
-      raise EOFError if @data.empty?
-      buf.replace @data.slice!( 0, size )
-      buf
-    end
-    class << self
-      alias_method :read_nonblock, :sysread
-    end
-
-  end
-
-  socket.response = response
-  TCPSocket.stubs( :open ).returns( socket )
-
-  return socket
-end
-
-def dummy_mysql_explain_result(hash=nil)
-  hash ||= {
-    'Id' => '1',
-    'Select Type' => 'SIMPLE',
-    'Table' => 'sandwiches',
-    'Type' => 'range',
-    'Possible Keys' => 'PRIMARY',
-    'Key' => 'PRIMARY',
-    'Key Length' => '4',
-    'Ref' => '',
-    'Rows' => '1',
-    'Extra' => 'Using index'
-  }
-  explain_result = mock('explain result')
-  explain_result.stubs(:each_hash).yields(hash)
-  explain_result
-end
-
-module TransactionSampleTestHelper
-  module_function
-  def make_sql_transaction(*sql)
-    sampler = nil
-    state = NewRelic::Agent::TransactionState.tl_get
-
-    in_transaction('/path') do
-      sampler = NewRelic::Agent.instance.transaction_sampler
-      sampler.notice_push_frame(state, "a")
-      explainer = NewRelic::Agent::Instrumentation::ActiveRecord::EXPLAINER
-      sql.each {|sql_statement| sampler.notice_sql(sql_statement, {:adapter => "mysql"}, 0, state, explainer) }
-      sleep 0.02
-      yield if block_given?
-      sampler.notice_pop_frame(state, "a")
-    end
-
-    return sampler.last_sample
-  end
-
-  def run_sample_trace(path='/path')
-    sampler = nil
-    state = NewRelic::Agent::TransactionState.tl_get
-
-    request = stub(:path => path)
-
-    in_transaction("Controller/sandwiches/index", :request => request) do
-      sampler = NewRelic::Agent.instance.transaction_sampler
-      sampler.notice_sql("SELECT * FROM sandwiches WHERE bread = 'wheat'", {}, 0, state)
-      sampler.notice_push_frame(state, "ab")
-      sampler.notice_sql("SELECT * FROM sandwiches WHERE bread = 'white'", {}, 0, state)
-      yield sampler if block_given?
-      sampler.notice_pop_frame(state, "ab")
-      sampler.notice_push_frame(state, "lew")
-      sampler.notice_sql("SELECT * FROM sandwiches WHERE bread = 'french'", {}, 0, state)
-      sampler.notice_pop_frame(state, "lew")
-    end
-
-    return sampler.last_sample
-  end
-end