diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 232175818..45d3438b9 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -92,9 +92,7 @@
     "sinon": "^7.2.2"
   },
   "scripts": {
-    "migrate_local": "DATABASE_URL=mysql://root:@localhost/box node_modules/.bin/db-migrate up",
-    "migrate_test": "BOX_ENV=test DATABASE_URL=mysql://root:@localhost/boxtest node_modules/.bin/db-migrate up",
-    "test": "npm run migrate_test && src/test/setupTest && BOX_ENV=test ./node_modules/istanbul/lib/cli.js test $1 ./node_modules/mocha/bin/_mocha -- --no-timeouts --exit -R spec ./src/test ./src/routes/test/[^a]*js",
+    "test": "src/test/setupTest && BOX_ENV=test ./node_modules/istanbul/lib/cli.js test $1 ./node_modules/mocha/bin/_mocha -- --no-timeouts --exit -R spec ./src/test ./src/routes/test/[^a]*js",
     "postmerge": "/bin/true",
     "precommit": "/bin/true",
     "prepush": "npm test",
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index e84e70244..c5da60262 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -119,8 +119,9 @@ function initConfig() {
     if (exports.TEST) {
         data.port = 5454;
         data.apiServerOrigin = 'http://localhost:6060'; // hock doesn't support https
-        data.database.password = '';
-        data.database.name = 'boxtest';
+
+        // see setupTest script how the mysql-server is run
+        data.database.hostname = require('child_process').execSync('docker inspect -f "{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}" mysql-server').toString().trim();
     }
 
     // overwrite defaults with saved config
diff --git a/src/database.js b/src/database.js
index 72c4685dc..611a1b3ca 100644
--- a/src/database.js
+++ b/src/database.js
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ function reconnect(callback) {
 function clear(callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    var cmd = util.format('mysql --host=%s --user="%s" --password="%s" -Nse "SHOW TABLES" %s | grep -v "^migrations$" | while read table; do mysql --host=%s --user="%s" --password="%s" -e "SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0; TRUNCATE TABLE $table" %s; done',
+    var cmd = util.format('mysql --host="%s" --user="%s" --password="%s" -Nse "SHOW TABLES" %s | grep -v "^migrations$" | while read table; do mysql --host="%s" --user="%s" --password="%s" -e "SET FOREIGN_KEY_CHECKS = 0; TRUNCATE TABLE $table" %s; done',
         config.database().hostname, config.database().username, config.database().password, config.database().name,
         config.database().hostname, config.database().username, config.database().password, config.database().name);
 
@@ -177,9 +177,7 @@ function importFromFile(file, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof file, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    var password = config.database().password ? '-p' + config.database().password : '--skip-password';
-
-    var cmd = `/usr/bin/mysql -u ${config.database().username} ${password} ${config.database().name} < ${file}`;
+    var cmd = `/usr/bin/mysql -h "${config.database().hostname}" -u ${config.database().username} -p${config.database().password} ${config.database().name} < ${file}`;
 
     async.series([
         query.bind(null, 'CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS box'),
@@ -191,9 +189,7 @@ function exportToFile(file, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof file, 'string');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    var password = config.database().password ? '-p' + config.database().password : '--skip-password';
-    var cmd = `/usr/bin/mysqldump -u root ${password} --single-transaction --routines \
-            --triggers ${config.database().name} > "${file}"`;
+    var cmd = `/usr/bin/mysqldump -h "${config.database().hostname}" -u root -p${config.database().password} --single-transaction --routines --triggers ${config.database().name} > "${file}"`;
 
     child_process.exec(cmd, callback);
 }
diff --git a/src/test/setupTest b/src/test/setupTest
index efd8e8e34..d0a580e15 100755
--- a/src/test/setupTest
+++ b/src/test/setupTest
@@ -19,3 +19,26 @@ openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout platformdata/nginx/cert/host.key -out
 
 # create docker network (while the infra code does this, most tests skip infra setup)
 docker network create --subnet=172.18.0.0/16 cloudron || true
+
+# create the same mysql server version to test with
+OUT=`docker inspect mysql-server` || true
+if [[ "${OUT}" = "[]" ]]; then
+    echo "Starting mysql-server..."
+    docker run --name mysql-server -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=password -d mysql:5.7
+else
+    echo "mysql-server already running. If you want to start fresh, run 'docker rm --force mysql-server'"
+fi
+
+export MYSQL_IP=`docker inspect -f '{{range .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{.IPAddress}}{{end}}' mysql-server`
+
+echo "Waiting for mysql server to be ready..."
+while ! mysqladmin ping -h"${MYSQL_IP}" --silent; do
+    sleep 1
+done
+
+echo "Ensure database"
+mysql -h"${MYSQL_IP}" -uroot -ppassword -e 'CREATE DATABASE IF NOT EXISTS box'
+
+echo "Run database migrations"
+cd "${source_dir}"
+BOX_ENV=test DATABASE_URL=mysql://root:password@${MYSQL_IP}/box node_modules/.bin/db-migrate up
\ No newline at end of file