diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Infrastructure/Composing/HostBuilderExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Infrastructure/Composing/HostBuilderExtensions.cs
index e2be3569d6..8e1176747c 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Infrastructure/Composing/HostBuilderExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Infrastructure/Composing/HostBuilderExtensions.cs
@@ -12,12 +12,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Composing
         /// Adds CoreRuntime as HostedService
         /// </summary>
         /// <remarks>
-        /// <para>When running the site should be called before ConfigureWebDefaults.</para>
-        ///
-        /// <para>
-        /// When testing should be called after ConfigureWebDefaults to ensure UseTestDatabase is called before CoreRuntime
-        /// starts or we initialize components with incorrect run level.
-        /// </para>
+        /// Should be called before ConfigureWebDefaults.
         /// </remarks>
         public static IHostBuilder UseUmbraco(this IHostBuilder builder)
         {
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/RuntimeTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/RuntimeTests.cs
index 5d721ad176..cd6909a8c5 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/RuntimeTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/RuntimeTests.cs
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration
             var testHelper = new TestHelper();
 
             var hostBuilder = new HostBuilder()
+                .UseUmbraco()
                 .ConfigureServices((hostContext, services) =>
                 {
                     var webHostEnvironment = testHelper.GetWebHostEnvironment();
@@ -68,8 +69,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration
                         .Build();
 
                     services.AddRouting(); // LinkGenerator
-                })
-                .UseUmbraco();
+                });
 
             var host = await hostBuilder.StartAsync();
             var app = new ApplicationBuilder(host.Services);
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoTestServerTestBase.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoTestServerTestBase.cs
index 8e6c02ca15..2b7aea8189 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoTestServerTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoTestServerTestBase.cs
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ using Umbraco.Core.DependencyInjection;
 using Umbraco.Web.Common.Controllers;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
 using Umbraco.Core.Cache;
-using Umbraco.Core.Composing;
 using Umbraco.Web.BackOffice.Controllers;
 
 namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration.TestServerTest
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration.TestServerTest
             InMemoryConfiguration["Umbraco:CMS:Hosting:Debug"] = "true";
 
             // create new WebApplicationFactory specifying 'this' as the IStartup instance
-            var factory = new UmbracoWebApplicationFactory<UmbracoTestServerTestBase>(CreateHostBuilder);
+            var factory = new UmbracoWebApplicationFactory<UmbracoTestServerTestBase>(CreateHostBuilder, BeforeHostStart);
 
             // additional host configuration for web server integration tests
             Factory = factory.WithWebHostBuilder(builder =>
@@ -71,15 +70,11 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration.TestServerTest
                  // call startup
                  builder.Configure(app =>
                  {
-                     Services = app.ApplicationServices;
-                     UseTestDatabase(app.ApplicationServices);
                      Configure(app);
                  });
 
             }).UseEnvironment(Environments.Development);
 
-            builder.UseUmbraco(); // Ensures CoreRuntime.StartAsync is called, must be after ConfigureWebHost
-
             return builder;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoWebApplicationFactory.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoWebApplicationFactory.cs
index 251f155d2c..256c5c59a9 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoWebApplicationFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/TestServerTest/UmbracoWebApplicationFactory.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-using System;
+using System;
 using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.Testing;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting;
 
@@ -8,16 +8,30 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration.TestServerTest
     public class UmbracoWebApplicationFactory<TStartup> : WebApplicationFactory<TStartup> where TStartup : class
     {
         private readonly Func<IHostBuilder> _createHostBuilder;
+        private readonly Action<IHost> _beforeStart;
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Constructor to create a new WebApplicationFactory
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="createHostBuilder">Method to create the IHostBuilder</param>
-        public UmbracoWebApplicationFactory(Func<IHostBuilder> createHostBuilder)
+        /// <param name="beforeStart">Method to perform an action before IHost starts</param>
+        public UmbracoWebApplicationFactory(Func<IHostBuilder> createHostBuilder, Action<IHost> beforeStart = null)
         {
             _createHostBuilder = createHostBuilder;
+            _beforeStart = beforeStart;
         }
 
         protected override IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder() => _createHostBuilder();
+
+        protected override IHost CreateHost(IHostBuilder builder)
+        {
+            IHost host = builder.Build();
+
+            _beforeStart?.Invoke(host);
+
+            host.Start();
+
+            return host;
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/Testing/UmbracoIntegrationTest.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/Testing/UmbracoIntegrationTest.cs
index 52b74f6bbb..e62b3f5c7f 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/Testing/UmbracoIntegrationTest.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests.Integration/Testing/UmbracoIntegrationTest.cs
@@ -97,18 +97,22 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration.Testing
         public virtual void Setup()
         {
             InMemoryConfiguration[Constants.Configuration.ConfigGlobal + ":" + nameof(GlobalSettings.InstallEmptyDatabase)] = "true";
-            var hostBuilder = CreateHostBuilder()
-                .UseUmbraco(); // This ensures CoreRuntime.StartAsync will be called (however it's a mock if boot = false)
+            var hostBuilder = CreateHostBuilder();
 
             IHost host = hostBuilder.Build();
-            Services = host.Services;
+            BeforeHostStart(host);
             host.Start();
 
             var app = new ApplicationBuilder(host.Services);
-
             Configure(app);
         }
 
+        protected void BeforeHostStart(IHost host)
+        {
+            Services = host.Services;
+            UseTestDatabase(Services);
+        }
+
         #region Generic Host Builder and Runtime
 
         private ILoggerFactory CreateLoggerFactory()
@@ -149,12 +153,12 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration.Testing
         public virtual IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder()
         {
             var hostBuilder = Host.CreateDefaultBuilder()
+                .UseUmbraco()
                 // IMPORTANT: We Cannot use UseStartup, there's all sorts of threads about this with testing. Although this can work
                 // if you want to setup your tests this way, it is a bit annoying to do that as the WebApplicationFactory will
                 // create separate Host instances. So instead of UseStartup, we just call ConfigureServices/Configure ourselves,
                 // and in the case of the UmbracoTestServerTestBase it will use the ConfigureWebHost to Configure the IApplicationBuilder directly.
                 //.ConfigureWebHostDefaults(webBuilder => { webBuilder.UseStartup(GetType()); })
-
                 .ConfigureAppConfiguration((context, configBuilder) =>
                 {
                     context.HostingEnvironment = TestHelper.GetWebHostEnvironment();
@@ -233,8 +237,6 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Integration.Testing
 
         public virtual void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app)
         {
-            UseTestDatabase(app.ApplicationServices);
-
             if (TestOptions.Boot)
             {
                 Services.GetRequiredService<IBackOfficeSecurityFactory>().EnsureBackOfficeSecurity();