diff --git a/neutron/tests/base.py b/neutron/tests/base.py
index 253210f768..b0bccef37f 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/base.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/base.py
@@ -190,6 +190,12 @@ class BaseTestCase(testtools.TestCase):
         if sys.version_info < (2, 7) and getattr(self, 'fmt', '') == 'xml':
             raise self.skipException('XML Testing Skipped in Py26')
 
+        self.setup_config()
+
+    def setup_config(self):
+        """Tests that need a non-default config can override this method."""
+        self.config_parse()
+
     def config(self, **kw):
         """Override some configuration values.
 
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/ofagent/test_ofa_neutron_agent.py b/neutron/tests/unit/ofagent/test_ofa_neutron_agent.py
index 5e0daf289e..efc3df7e8b 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/ofagent/test_ofa_neutron_agent.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/ofagent/test_ofa_neutron_agent.py
@@ -54,10 +54,12 @@ class OFAAgentTestCase(base.BaseTestCase):
         super(OFAAgentTestCase, self).setUp()
         self.fake_oflib_of = fake_oflib.patch_fake_oflib_of().start()
         self.mod_agent = importutils.import_module(self._AGENT_NAME)
+        self.ryuapp = mock.Mock()
+
+    def setup_config(self):
         cfg.CONF.set_default('firewall_driver',
                              'neutron.agent.firewall.NoopFirewallDriver',
                              group='SECURITYGROUP')
-        self.ryuapp = mock.Mock()
         cfg.CONF.register_cli_opts([
             cfg.StrOpt('ofp-listen-host', default='',
                        help='openflow listen host'),
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_netns_cleanup.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_netns_cleanup.py
index 13c8335dff..ff2d62e01a 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_netns_cleanup.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_netns_cleanup.py
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ from neutron.tests import base
 
 class TestNetnsCleanup(base.BaseTestCase):
 
+    def setup_config(self):
+        # don't use default config
+        pass
+
     def test_setup_conf(self):
         expected_opts = interface.OPTS
         conf = util.setup_conf()
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_ovs_cleanup.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_ovs_cleanup.py
index 137e8bbb82..2735fbac6b 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_ovs_cleanup.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_agent_ovs_cleanup.py
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ from neutron.tests import base
 
 class TestOVSCleanup(base.BaseTestCase):
 
+    def setup_config(self):
+        # don't use default config
+        pass
+
     def test_setup_conf(self):
         conf = util.setup_conf()
         self.assertEqual(conf.external_network_bridge, 'br-ex')
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py
index 4a93ed6fed..97c61bdede 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_config.py
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ from neutron.tests import base
 
 class ConfigurationTest(base.BaseTestCase):
 
+    def setup_config(self):
+        # don't use default config
+        pass
+
     def test_defaults(self):
         self.assertEqual('0.0.0.0', cfg.CONF.bind_host)
         self.assertEqual(9696, cfg.CONF.bind_port)
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_dhcp_agent.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_dhcp_agent.py
index 37ac61e0e2..3740199ae4 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_dhcp_agent.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_dhcp_agent.py
@@ -645,6 +645,7 @@ class TestDhcpAgentEventHandler(base.BaseTestCase):
     def test_enable_isolated_metadata_proxy_with_metadata_network(self):
         cfg.CONF.set_override('enable_metadata_network', True)
         cfg.CONF.set_override('debug', True)
+        cfg.CONF.set_override('verbose', False)
         cfg.CONF.set_override('log_file', 'test.log')
         class_path = 'neutron.agent.linux.ip_lib.IPWrapper'
         self.external_process_p.stop()
diff --git a/neutron/tests/unit/test_l3_agent.py b/neutron/tests/unit/test_l3_agent.py
index 132ff1dd43..b0d5c1a6f2 100644
--- a/neutron/tests/unit/test_l3_agent.py
+++ b/neutron/tests/unit/test_l3_agent.py
@@ -1470,6 +1470,7 @@ class TestL3AgentEventHandler(base.BaseTestCase):
             'interface_driver', 'neutron.agent.linux.interface.NullDriver'
         )
         cfg.CONF.set_override('use_namespaces', True)
+        cfg.CONF.set_override('verbose', False)
         agent_config.register_root_helper(cfg.CONF)
 
         device_exists_p = mock.patch(