diff --git a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMap.java b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMap.java
index 9667304e8..9985ed441 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMap.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMap.java
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ public final class PropertyMap implements Serializable {
 
   private final LinkedHashMap<String, String> map = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
 
+  /**
+   * Return properties loaded from test-ebean.properties.
+   */
+  public static Properties testProperties() {
+    PropertyMap propertyMap = PropertyMapLoader.loadTestProperties();
+    return (propertyMap == null) ? new Properties() : propertyMap.asProperties();
+  }
+
   public static Properties defaultProperties() {
     PropertyMap propertyMap = PropertyMapLoader.loadGlobalProperties();
     return (propertyMap == null) ? new Properties() : propertyMap.asProperties();
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMapLoader.java b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMapLoader.java
index e72f067f3..6f5e3f201 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMapLoader.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/PropertyMapLoader.java
@@ -14,17 +14,34 @@ final class PropertyMapLoader {
 
   private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(PropertyMapLoader.class);
 
+  /**
+   * Load the <code>test-ebean.properties</code>.
+   */
+  public static PropertyMap loadTestProperties() {
+    return load(null, "test-ebean.properties", false);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Load the ebean.properties (and test-ebean.properties if present).
+   */
   public static PropertyMap loadGlobalProperties() {
 
+    boolean loadTestProperties = false;
     String fileName = System.getenv("EBEAN_PROPS_FILE");
     if (fileName == null) {
       fileName = System.getProperty("ebean.props.file");
       if (fileName == null) {
+        loadTestProperties = true;
         fileName = "ebean.properties";
       }
     }
 
-    return load(null, fileName);
+    PropertyMap map = load(null, fileName, true);
+    if (loadTestProperties) {
+      // load test properties if present in classpath
+      load(map, "test-ebean.properties", false);
+    }
+    return map;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -35,11 +52,13 @@ final class PropertyMapLoader {
    * @param fileName
    *          the name of the properties file to load.
    */
-  public static PropertyMap load(PropertyMap p, String fileName) {
+  public static PropertyMap load(PropertyMap p, String fileName, boolean errorOnNull) {
 
     InputStream is = findInputStream(fileName);
     if (is == null) {
-      logger.error(fileName + " not found");
+      if (errorOnNull) {
+        logger.error(fileName + " not found");
+      }
       return p;
     } else {
       return load(p, is);
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java
index 7c33fe549..d644365ee 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfig.java
@@ -2040,6 +2040,21 @@ public class ServerConfig {
     loadSettings(p);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Load settings from test-ebean.properties and do nothing if the properties is not found.
+   * <p>
+   * This is typically used when test-ebean.properties is put into the test class path and used
+   * to configure Ebean for running tests.
+   * </p>
+   */
+  public void loadTestProperties() {
+    Properties properties = PropertyMap.testProperties();
+    if (!properties.isEmpty()) {
+      PropertiesWrapper p = new PropertiesWrapper("ebean", name, properties);
+      loadSettings(p);
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Return the properties that we used for configuration and were set via a call to loadFromProperties().
    */
@@ -2048,8 +2063,11 @@ public class ServerConfig {
   }
 
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-  private <T> T createInstance(PropertiesWrapper p, Class<T> pluginType, String key) {
+  private <T> T createInstance(PropertiesWrapper p, Class<T> pluginType, String key, T instance) {
 
+    if (instance != null) {
+      return instance;
+    }
     String classname = p.get(key, null);
     return classname == null ? null : (T) ClassUtil.newInstance(classname);
   }
@@ -2097,15 +2115,15 @@ public class ServerConfig {
     autoCommitMode = p.getBoolean("autoCommitMode", autoCommitMode);
     useJtaTransactionManager = p.getBoolean("useJtaTransactionManager", useJtaTransactionManager);
 
-    currentUserProvider = createInstance(p, CurrentUserProvider.class, "currentUserProvider");
     disableClasspathSearch = p.getBoolean("disableClasspathSearch", disableClasspathSearch);
-    databasePlatform = createInstance(p, DatabasePlatform.class, "databasePlatform");
-    encryptKeyManager = createInstance(p, EncryptKeyManager.class, "encryptKeyManager");
-    encryptDeployManager = createInstance(p, EncryptDeployManager.class, "encryptDeployManager");
-    encryptor = createInstance(p, Encryptor.class, "encryptor");
-    dbEncrypt = createInstance(p, DbEncrypt.class, "dbEncrypt");
-    serverCacheFactory = createInstance(p, ServerCacheFactory.class, "serverCacheFactory");
-    serverCacheManager = createInstance(p, ServerCacheManager.class, "serverCacheManager");
+    currentUserProvider = createInstance(p, CurrentUserProvider.class, "currentUserProvider", currentUserProvider);
+    databasePlatform = createInstance(p, DatabasePlatform.class, "databasePlatform", databasePlatform);
+    encryptKeyManager = createInstance(p, EncryptKeyManager.class, "encryptKeyManager", encryptKeyManager);
+    encryptDeployManager = createInstance(p, EncryptDeployManager.class, "encryptDeployManager", encryptDeployManager);
+    encryptor = createInstance(p, Encryptor.class, "encryptor", encryptor);
+    dbEncrypt = createInstance(p, DbEncrypt.class, "dbEncrypt", dbEncrypt);
+    serverCacheFactory = createInstance(p, ServerCacheFactory.class, "serverCacheFactory", serverCacheFactory);
+    serverCacheManager = createInstance(p, ServerCacheManager.class, "serverCacheManager", serverCacheManager);
     cacheWarmingDelay = p.getInt("cacheWarmingDelay", cacheWarmingDelay);
     classPathReaderClassName = p.get("classpathreader");
     
@@ -2176,7 +2194,7 @@ public class ServerConfig {
 
   private NamingConvention createNamingConvention(PropertiesWrapper properties, NamingConvention namingConvention) {
 
-    NamingConvention nc = createInstance(properties, NamingConvention.class, "namingconvention");
+    NamingConvention nc = createInstance(properties, NamingConvention.class, "namingconvention", null);
     return (nc != null) ? nc : namingConvention;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfigTest.java b/src/test/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfigTest.java
index 603ab289b..6701aa3dd 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfigTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/avaje/ebean/config/ServerConfigTest.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ public class ServerConfigTest {
     props1.setProperty("ebean.persistBatchOnCascade", "ALL");
 
     serverConfig.loadFromProperties(props1);
+    serverConfig.loadTestProperties();
 
     assertEquals(PersistBatch.ALL, serverConfig.getPersistBatch());
     assertEquals(PersistBatch.ALL, serverConfig.getPersistBatchOnCascade());
diff --git a/src/test/resources/test-ebean.properties b/src/test/resources/test-ebean.properties
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2329a96dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/test-ebean.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+datasource.h2.username=sa
\ No newline at end of file