diff --git a/lib/core/engine.js b/lib/core/engine.js
index c2af6a828..de4bf8d88 100644
--- a/lib/core/engine.js
+++ b/lib/core/engine.js
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ class Engine {
   }
 
   testRunnerService(options) {
-    this.registerModule('tests', options);
+    this.registerModule('tests', Object.assign(options, {ipc: this.ipc}));
   }
 
   codeCoverageService(_options) {
diff --git a/lib/modules/tests/index.js b/lib/modules/tests/index.js
index 4284164c5..03535c3ab 100644
--- a/lib/modules/tests/index.js
+++ b/lib/modules/tests/index.js
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ const EmbarkSpec = require('./reporter');
 const SolcTest = require('./solc_test');
 
 class TestRunner {
-  constructor(embark, _options) {
+  constructor(embark, options) {
     this.embark = embark;
     this.logger = embark.logger;
     this.events = embark.events;
+    this.ipc = options.ipc;
 
     this.events.setCommandHandler('tests:run', (options, callback) => {
       this.run(options, callback);
@@ -125,7 +126,8 @@ class TestRunner {
     async.waterfall([
       function setupGlobalNamespace(next) {
         // TODO put default config
-        const test = new Test({loglevel, node: options.node, events: self.events, logger: self.logger, config: self.embark.config});
+        const test = new Test({loglevel, node: options.node, events: self.events, logger: self.logger,
+          config: self.embark.config, ipc: self.ipc});
         global.embark = test;
         global.assert = assert;
         global.config = test.config.bind(test);
@@ -202,7 +204,8 @@ class TestRunner {
     this.logger.info('Running solc tests');
     const loglevel = options.loglevel || 'warn';
 
-    let solcTest = new SolcTest({loglevel, node: options.node, events: this.events, logger: this.logger, config: this.embark.config});
+    let solcTest = new SolcTest({loglevel, node: options.node, events: this.events, logger: this.logger,
+      config: this.embark.config, ipc: self.ipc});
     global.embark = solcTest;
     async.waterfall([
       function initEngine(next) {
diff --git a/lib/modules/tests/test.js b/lib/modules/tests/test.js
index cd87b6dbe..f23ebee59 100644
--- a/lib/modules/tests/test.js
+++ b/lib/modules/tests/test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const async = require('async');
 const AccountParser = require('../../utils/accountParser');
 const EmbarkJS = require('embarkjs');
+const utils = require('../../utils/utils');
 
 class Test {
   constructor(options) {
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ class Test {
     this.simOptions = {};
     this.events = options.events;
     this.logger = options.logger;
+    this.ipc = options.ipc;
     this.configObj = options.config;
     this.ready = true;
     this.firstRunConfig = true;
@@ -21,11 +23,30 @@ class Test {
   }
 
   init(callback) {
-    this.showNodeHttpWarning();
 
     this.events.request('blockchain:object', (connector) => {
       this.blockchainConnector = connector;
-      callback();
+      if (this.options.node !== 'embark') {
+        this.showNodeHttpWarning();
+        return callback();
+      }
+        if (!this.ipc.connected) {
+          this.engine.logger.error("Could not connect to Embark's IPC. Is embark running?");
+          process.exit(1);
+        }
+        return this.connectToIpcNode(callback);
+    });
+  }
+
+  connectToIpcNode(cb) {
+    this.ipc.request('blockchain:node', {}, (err, node) => {
+      if (err) {
+        this.logger.error(err.message || err);
+        return cb();
+      }
+      this.options.node = node;
+      this.showNodeHttpWarning();
+      cb();
     });
   }
 
@@ -42,42 +63,27 @@ class Test {
     // TODO use event for this
     if (!this.simOptions.host && (this.options.node && this.options.node === 'vm')) {
       this.simOptions.type = 'vm';
+    } else if (this.simOptions.host || (this.options.node && this.options.node !== 'vm')) {
+      let options = this.simOptions;
+      if (this.options.node) {
+        options = utils.deconstructUrl(this.options.node);
+      }
+
+      if (!options.protocol) {
+        options.protocol = (options.type === "rpc") ? 'http' : 'ws';
+      }
+      Object.assign(this.simOptions, options);
     }
+
     this.configObj.contractsConfig.deployment = this.simOptions;
     this.blockchainConnector.contractsConfig = this.configObj.contractsConfig;
     this.blockchainConnector.isWeb3Ready = false;
     this.blockchainConnector.wait = false;
     this.blockchainConnector.coverage = this.options.coverage;
 
-
     this.blockchainConnector.initWeb3(callback);
   }
 
-  /*initDeployServices() {
-    this.engine.startService("web3", {
-      web3: this.web3
-    });
-    this.engine.startService("deployment", {
-      trackContracts: false,
-      compileOnceOnly: true,
-      disableOptimizations: this.options.coverage
-    });
-    this.gasLimit = 6000000;
-    this.engine.events.request('deploy:setGasLimit', this.gasLimit);
-  }*/
-
-  /*connectToIpcNode(cb) {
-    this.engine.ipc.request('blockchain:node', {}, (err, node) => {
-      if (err) {
-        this.engine.logger.error(err.message || err);
-        return cb();
-      }
-      this.options.node = node;
-      this.showNodeHttpWarning();
-      cb();
-    });
-  }*/
-
   showNodeHttpWarning() {
     if (this.options.node.startsWith('http')) {
       this.logger.warn("You are using http to connect to the node, as a result the gas details won't be correct." +