diff --git a/test/e2e-api/admin/settings.test.js b/test/e2e-api/admin/settings.test.js
index 5e72dca61f..5c46d0bce4 100644
--- a/test/e2e-api/admin/settings.test.js
+++ b/test/e2e-api/admin/settings.test.js
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ describe('Settings API', function () {
     let request;
 
     before(async function () {
-        await localUtils.startGhost();
+        await localUtils.startGhost({
+            redirectsFile: true,
+            copySettings: true
+        });
         request = supertest.agent(config.get('url'));
         await localUtils.doAuth(request);
     });
diff --git a/test/e2e-api/admin/themes.test.js b/test/e2e-api/admin/themes.test.js
index b153dd8003..9fda25aa9d 100644
--- a/test/e2e-api/admin/themes.test.js
+++ b/test/e2e-api/admin/themes.test.js
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ const fs = require('fs');
 const _ = require('lodash');
 const supertest = require('supertest');
 const nock = require('nock');
-const testUtils = require('../../utils');
 const config = require('../../../core/shared/config');
 const localUtils = require('./utils');
 const settingsCache = require('../../../core/shared/settings-cache');
@@ -26,10 +25,9 @@ describe('Themes API', function () {
     };
 
     before(async function () {
-        // NOTE: this flag should not be here! the URL service re-initialization should be fixed instead
-        //       The reason why this init doesn't work without "forceStart" is because during the "restartModeGhostStart"
-        //       the routing.routerManager is never called with "start". That's why a full boot is needed
-        await localUtils.startGhost();
+        await localUtils.startGhost({
+            copyThemes: true
+        });
         ownerRequest = supertest.agent(config.get('url'));
         await localUtils.doAuth(ownerRequest);
     });
diff --git a/test/e2e-frontend/members.test.js b/test/e2e-frontend/members.test.js
index 6f7647f53f..4a9ab37157 100644
--- a/test/e2e-frontend/members.test.js
+++ b/test/e2e-frontend/members.test.js
@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ describe('Front-end members behaviour', function () {
 
             return originalSettingsCacheGetFn(key, options);
         });
-        await testUtils.startGhost();
+        await testUtils.startGhost({
+            copyThemes: true
+        });
         await testUtils.initFixtures('members');
         request = supertest.agent(configUtils.config.get('url'));
     });
diff --git a/test/utils/e2e-utils.js b/test/utils/e2e-utils.js
index aa0566d1f4..55abf5b145 100644
--- a/test/utils/e2e-utils.js
+++ b/test/utils/e2e-utils.js
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ const prepareContentFolder = (options) => {
     if (options.copyThemes) {
         // Copy all themes into the new test content folder. Default active theme is always casper. If you want to use a different theme, you have to set the active theme (e.g. stub)
         fs.copySync(path.join(__dirname, 'fixtures', 'themes'), path.join(contentFolderForTests, 'themes'));
+    } else if (options.frontend) {
+        // Just copy Casper
+        fs.copySync(path.join(__dirname, 'fixtures', 'themes', 'casper'), path.join(contentFolderForTests, 'themes', 'casper'));
     }
 
     if (options.redirectsFile) {
@@ -99,7 +102,7 @@ const prepareContentFolder = (options) => {
 // - truncate database
 // - re-run default fixtures
 // - reload affected services
-const restartModeGhostStart = async ({frontend}) => {
+const restartModeGhostStart = async ({frontend, copyThemes, copySettings}) => {
     debug('Reload Mode');
 
     // TODO: figure out why we need this if we reset again later?
@@ -113,11 +116,12 @@ const restartModeGhostStart = async ({frontend}) => {
     await settingsService.init();
     debug('settings done');
 
-    if (frontend) {
-        // Load the frontend-related components
+    if (copySettings) {
         await routeSettingsService.init();
+    }
+    if (copyThemes) {
         await themeService.init();
-        debug('frontend done');
+        await themeService.loadInactiveThemes();
     }
 
     // Reload the URL service & wait for it to be ready again
@@ -195,19 +199,17 @@ const startGhost = async (options) => {
     options = _.merge({
         backend: true,
         frontend: true,
-        redirectsFile: true,
+        redirectsFile: false,
         redirectsFileExt: '.json',
         forceStart: false,
-        copyThemes: true,
-        copySettings: true,
+        copyThemes: false,
+        copySettings: false,
         contentFolder: path.join(os.tmpdir(), uuid.v4(), 'ghost-test'),
         subdir: false
     }, options);
 
-    // Ensure we have tmp content folders populated ready for testing
-    // @TODO: tidy up the tmp folders after tests
     prepareContentFolder(options);
-
+    
     if (ghostServer && ghostServer.httpServer && !options.forceStart) {
         await restartModeGhostStart(options);
     } else {