diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 7da7e58fa..e391767ed 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -84,13 +84,12 @@
     </dependency>
 
     <!--
-    If snakeyaml is in the classpath we will read yml configuration files
+    Exclude snakeyaml if you desire - it is not strictly required.
     -->
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.yaml</groupId>
       <artifactId>snakeyaml</artifactId>
       <version>1.19</version>
-      <scope>provided</scope>
     </dependency>
 
     <!--
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/AutoConfigure.java b/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/AutoConfigure.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c0ef18af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/AutoConfigure.java
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package io.ebean.config;
+
+/**
+ * Used to provide some automatic configuration early in the creation of an EbeanServer.
+ */
+public interface AutoConfigure {
+
+  /**
+   * Provide some configuration the ServerConfig prior to server creation.
+   * <p>
+   * Return true if the autoConfiguration applies to this ServerConfig.
+   */
+  void configure(ServerConfig serverConfig);
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java b/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java
index b336029f8..d2819f42b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java
@@ -2606,10 +2606,22 @@ public class ServerConfig {
   public void loadFromProperties(Properties properties) {
     // keep the properties used for configuration so that these are available for plugins
     this.properties = properties;
+    autoConfiguration();
     PropertiesWrapper p = new PropertiesWrapper("ebean", name, properties);
     loadSettings(p);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Use a 'plugin' to provide automatic configuration. Intended for automatic testing
+   * configuration with Docker containers via ebean-test-config.
+   */
+  private void autoConfiguration() {
+    Iterator<AutoConfigure> iterator = serviceLoad(AutoConfigure.class).iterator();
+    while (iterator.hasNext()) {
+      iterator.next().configure(this);
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Deprecated - this does nothing now, we always try to read test configuration.
    * <p>
diff --git a/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/properties/PropertiesLoader.java b/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/properties/PropertiesLoader.java
index 77b059b5b..b62236de3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/properties/PropertiesLoader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/ebean/config/properties/PropertiesLoader.java
@@ -55,4 +55,15 @@ public class PropertiesLoader {
     return properties;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Set (override) a configuration property.
+   *
+   * This is expected to be only called by test configuration logic
+   * (ala automatic test configuration via ebean-test-config).
+   */
+  public static synchronized void setProperty(String key, String value) {
+    load();
+    properties.setProperty(key, value);
+  }
+
 }