diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Composing/ContainerFactory.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Composing/ContainerFactory.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..70e04eb2ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Composing/ContainerFactory.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+using System;
+using System.Configuration;
+using System.Reflection;
+using Umbraco.Core.Composing.LightInject;
+
+namespace Umbraco.Core.Composing
+{
+    public class ContainerFactory
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Creates a new instance of the configured container.
+        /// To override the default LightInjectContainer, add an appSetting named umbracoContainerType with
+        /// a fully qualified type name to a class with a static method "Create" returning an IContainer.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static IContainer Create()
+        {
+            var configuredTypeName = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["umbracoContainerType"]
+                                  ?? typeof(LightInjectContainer).AssemblyQualifiedName;
+            var type = Type.GetType(configuredTypeName);
+            if (type == null)
+            {
+                throw new Exception($"Cannot find container factory class named '${configuredTypeName}'");
+            }
+            var factoryMethod = type.GetMethod("Create", BindingFlags.Static);
+            if (factoryMethod == null)
+            {
+                throw new Exception($"Container factory class '${configuredTypeName}' does not have a public static method named Create");
+            }
+            var container = factoryMethod.Invoke(null, new object[0]) as IContainer;
+            if (container == null)
+            {
+                throw new Exception($"Container factory '${configuredTypeName}' did not return an IContainer implementation.");
+            }
+            return container;
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj b/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj
index 412b55ea71..b9b682de33 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Umbraco.Core.csproj
@@ -160,6 +160,7 @@
     <Compile Include="Composing\Composers\FileSystemsComposer.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Composing\Composers\RepositoriesComposer.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Composing\Composers\ServicesComposer.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Composing\ContainerFactory.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Composing\Current.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Composing\HideFromTypeFinderAttribute.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Composing\IBuilderCollection.cs" />
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/UmbracoApplicationBase.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/UmbracoApplicationBase.cs
index 5d40a64002..2e08814e1f 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/UmbracoApplicationBase.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/UmbracoApplicationBase.cs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core
         {
             // note: the actual, web UmbracoApplication is overriding this
             // with a web-supporting container
-            return Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            return ContainerFactory.Create();
         }
 
         // events - in the order they trigger
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Cache/DistributedCache/DistributedCacheTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Cache/DistributedCache/DistributedCacheTests.cs
index 07cb2b8319..554194fd91 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Cache/DistributedCache/DistributedCacheTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Cache/DistributedCache/DistributedCacheTests.cs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Cache.DistributedCache
         [SetUp]
         public void Setup()
         {
-            var container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            var container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
             container.Register<IServerRegistrar>(_ => new TestServerRegistrar());
             container.RegisterSingleton<IServerMessenger>(_ => new TestServerMessenger());
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/CollectionBuildersTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/CollectionBuildersTests.cs
index 4e254ce425..1bddbdfbb2 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/CollectionBuildersTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/CollectionBuildersTests.cs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Composing
         {
             Current.Reset();
 
-            _container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            _container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
         }
 
         [TearDown]
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/ContainerImplementationTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/ContainerImplementationTests.cs
index 46a2d08256..818bf47cd0 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/ContainerImplementationTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/ContainerImplementationTests.cs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Composing
     [TestFixture]
     public class ContainerImplementationTests
     {
-        private IContainer CreateContainer() => Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+        private IContainer CreateContainer() => ContainerFactory.Create();
 
         [Test]
         public void CanRegisterSingletonInterface()
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/LazyCollectionBuilderTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/LazyCollectionBuilderTests.cs
index d28820f59f..e0dde277f9 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/LazyCollectionBuilderTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/LazyCollectionBuilderTests.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Composing
         }
 
         private IContainer CreateContainer()
-            => Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            => Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
         // note
         // lazy collection builder does not throw on duplicate, just uses distinct types
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/PackageActionCollectionTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/PackageActionCollectionTests.cs
index c49dd4b83f..236d92b94e 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/PackageActionCollectionTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Composing/PackageActionCollectionTests.cs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Composing
         [Test]
         public void PackageActionCollectionBuilderWorks()
         {
-            var container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            var container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
             container.RegisterCollectionBuilder<PackageActionCollectionBuilder>()
                 .Add(() => TypeLoader.GetPackageActions());
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/IO/FileSystemsTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/IO/FileSystemsTests.cs
index e265793239..f97bdc4189 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/IO/FileSystemsTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/IO/FileSystemsTests.cs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.IO
             var config = SettingsForTests.GetDefaultUmbracoSettings();
             SettingsForTests.ConfigureSettings(config);
 
-            _container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            _container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
             _container.Register(_ => Mock.Of<ILogger>());
             _container.Register<FileSystems>();
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/ImageCropperTest.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/ImageCropperTest.cs
index cb739edd92..2c5bc621eb 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/ImageCropperTest.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/ImageCropperTest.cs
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.PropertyEditors
         {
             try
             {
-                var container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+                var container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
                 container.RegisterCollectionBuilder<PropertyValueConverterCollectionBuilder>();
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/PropertyEditorValueEditorTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/PropertyEditorValueEditorTests.cs
index 7efb8734c4..00ca646360 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/PropertyEditorValueEditorTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/PropertyEditors/PropertyEditorValueEditorTests.cs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.PropertyEditors
             //normalize culture
             Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
 
-            var container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            var container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
             container.Register<IShortStringHelper>(_
                 => new DefaultShortStringHelper(new DefaultShortStringHelperConfig().WithDefault(SettingsForTests.GetDefaultUmbracoSettings())));
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Published/ConvertersTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Published/ConvertersTests.cs
index 5447a8b368..c0ae68d7d5 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Published/ConvertersTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Published/ConvertersTests.cs
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Published
         public void SimpleConverter3Test()
         {
             Current.Reset();
-            var container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            var container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
 
             Current.Container.RegisterCollectionBuilder<PropertyValueConverterCollectionBuilder>()
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Scoping/ScopeEventDispatcherTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Scoping/ScopeEventDispatcherTests.cs
index 89d361e789..9d08229563 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Scoping/ScopeEventDispatcherTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Scoping/ScopeEventDispatcherTests.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Scoping
             DoThing2 = null;
             DoThing3 = null;
 
-            var container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            var container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
             _testObjects = new TestObjects(container);
 
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseUsingSqlCeSyntax.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseUsingSqlCeSyntax.cs
index 9ae9fd4700..4314af38b5 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseUsingSqlCeSyntax.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/TestHelpers/BaseUsingSqlCeSyntax.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.TestHelpers
 
             var sqlSyntax = new SqlCeSyntaxProvider();
 
-            var container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            var container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
             container.RegisterSingleton<ILogger>(factory => Mock.Of<ILogger>());
             container.RegisterSingleton<IProfiler>(factory => Mock.Of<IProfiler>());
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Testing/UmbracoTestBase.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Testing/UmbracoTestBase.cs
index 60c55f6406..7d9dd34491 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/Testing/UmbracoTestBase.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/Testing/UmbracoTestBase.cs
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests.Testing
             // but hey, never know, better avoid garbage-in
             Reset();
 
-            Container = Current.Container = Core.Composing.LightInject.LightInjectContainer.Create();
+            Container = Current.Container = ContainerFactory.Create();
 
             TestObjects = new TestObjects(Container);