diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/RootFieldTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/RootFieldTest.java
index 372c6ac08ed..12cb5f6b35a 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/RootFieldTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/RootFieldTest.java
@@ -45,12 +45,14 @@ private static boolean expectRoot() {
 
   @BeforeClass
   public static void beforeTest() throws Exception {
+    solrClientTestRule.startSolr(Path.of(SolrTestCaseJ4.TEST_HOME()));
+
     useRootSchema = random().nextBoolean();
     // schema15.xml declares _root_ field, while schema-rest.xml does not.
     String schema = useRootSchema ? "schema15.xml" : "schema-rest.xml";
     SolrTestCaseJ4.newRandomConfig();
-
-    solrClientTestRule.startSolr(Path.of(SolrTestCaseJ4.TEST_HOME()));
+    System.setProperty("solr.test.sys.prop1", "propone"); // TODO yuck; remove
+    System.setProperty("solr.test.sys.prop2", "proptwo"); // TODO yuck; remove
 
     solrClientTestRule
         .newCollection()
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/AbstractAtomicUpdatesMultivalueTestBase.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/AbstractAtomicUpdatesMultivalueTestBase.java
index 9919126dc8c..72370e04d23 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/AbstractAtomicUpdatesMultivalueTestBase.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/update/processor/AbstractAtomicUpdatesMultivalueTestBase.java
@@ -47,9 +47,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractAtomicUpdatesMultivalueTestBase extends EmbeddedSo
 
   protected static void initWithRequestWriter(RequestWriterSupplier requestWriterSupplier)
       throws Exception {
+    solrClientTestRule.startSolr(Paths.get(SolrTestCaseJ4.TEST_HOME()));
+
     System.setProperty("enable.update.log", "true");
     SolrTestCaseJ4.newRandomConfig();
-    solrClientTestRule.startSolr(Paths.get(SolrTestCaseJ4.TEST_HOME()));
+    System.setProperty("solr.test.sys.prop1", "propone"); // TODO yuck; remove
+    System.setProperty("solr.test.sys.prop2", "proptwo"); // TODO yuck; remove
 
     solrClientTestRule.newCollection().withConfigSet("../collection1").create();
   }