diff --git a/test_elasticsearch/test_server/__init__.py b/test_elasticsearch/test_server/__init__.py
index 0d8932b0..8478fb55 100644
--- a/test_elasticsearch/test_server/__init__.py
+++ b/test_elasticsearch/test_server/__init__.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import requests
 from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
 from elasticsearch.exceptions import ConnectionError
 
-from unittest import SkipTest
+from unittest import SkipTest, TestCase
 
 data_dir = None
 
@@ -29,22 +29,7 @@ CMD = """
 server = None
 pidfile = tempfile.mktemp()
 
-from os import environ
-from os.path import join, dirname, pardir, exists
-
-YAML_DIR = environ.get(
-    'YAML_TEST_DIR',
-    join(
-        dirname(__file__),
-        pardir, pardir, pardir,
-        'elasticsearch-rest-api-spec', 'test'
-    )
-)
-
 def setup():
-    # no integration tests, skip starting the server
-    if not exists(YAML_DIR):
-        raise SkipTest('')
     global server
 
     # use running ES instance, don't attempt to start our own
@@ -97,3 +82,11 @@ def teardown():
             pid = pidf.read()
             os.kill(int(pid), 15)
         server.wait()
+
+class ElasticTestCase(TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.client = Elasticsearch([os.environ['TEST_ES_SERVER']])
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        self.client.indices.delete()
+
diff --git a/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_common.py b/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_common.py
index 69cb90d5..488d932e 100644
--- a/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_common.py
+++ b/test_elasticsearch/test_server/test_common.py
@@ -4,13 +4,11 @@ some integration tests. These files are shared among all official Elasticsearch
 clients.
 """
 from os import walk, environ
-from os.path import exists, join
+from os.path import exists, join, dirname, pardir
 import yaml
-from unittest import TestCase, SkipTest
+from unittest import SkipTest
 
-from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
-
-from test_elasticsearch.test_server import YAML_DIR
+from . import ElasticTestCase
 
 # some params had to be changed in python, keep track of them so we can rename
 # those in the tests accordingly
@@ -29,7 +27,7 @@ def _get_version(version_string):
     version = version_string.strip().split('.')
     return tuple(int(v) if v.isdigit() else 999 for v in version)
 
-class YamlTestCase(TestCase):
+class YamlTestCase(ElasticTestCase):
     _definition = None
     @property
     def es_version(self):
@@ -40,14 +38,10 @@ class YamlTestCase(TestCase):
         return ES_VERSION
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.client = Elasticsearch([environ['TEST_ES_SERVER']])
+        super(YamlTestCase, self).setUp()
         self.last_response = None
         self._state = {}
 
-    def tearDown(self):
-        # clean up everything
-        self.client.indices.delete()
-
     def test_from_yaml(self):
         if not self._definition:
             raise SkipTest('Empty test.')
@@ -190,7 +184,14 @@ def construct_case(filename, name):
 
     return type(name, (YamlTestCase, ), attrs)
 
-
+YAML_DIR = environ.get(
+    'YAML_TEST_DIR',
+    join(
+        dirname(__file__),
+        pardir, pardir, pardir,
+        'elasticsearch-rest-api-spec', 'test'
+    )
+)
 
 if exists(YAML_DIR):
 # find all the test definitions in yaml files ...