diff --git a/activerecord/test/support/tools.rb b/activerecord/test/support/tools.rb
index e546dcaa8b6..000592d9690 100644
--- a/activerecord/test/support/tools.rb
+++ b/activerecord/test/support/tools.rb
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@ require "active_support"
 require "active_support/test_case"
 
 require "rake/testtask"
+
 Rails::TestUnit::Runner.singleton_class.prepend Module.new {
    private
-     def list_tests(argv)
+     def list_tests(patterns)
        tests = super
-       tests.concat FileList["test/cases/adapters/#{adapter_name}/**/*_test.rb"]
+       tests.concat FileList["test/cases/adapters/#{adapter_name}/**/*_test.rb"] if patterns.empty?
+       tests
      end
 
      def default_test_exclude_glob
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/test_unit/runner.rb b/railties/lib/rails/test_unit/runner.rb
index 8f408e5195d..819580ac404 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/test_unit/runner.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/test_unit/runner.rb
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@ module Rails
         end
 
         def load_tests(argv)
-          tests = list_tests(argv)
+          patterns = extract_filters(argv)
+          tests = list_tests(patterns)
           tests.to_a.each { |path| require File.expand_path(path) }
         end
 
@@ -96,9 +97,7 @@ module Rails
             PATH_ARGUMENT_PATTERN.match?(arg)
           end
 
-          def list_tests(argv)
-            patterns = extract_filters(argv)
-
+          def list_tests(patterns)
             tests = Rake::FileList[patterns.any? ? patterns : default_test_glob]
             tests.exclude(default_test_exclude_glob) if patterns.empty?
             tests