diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index db1e0fe921..ed849fa2a8 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -403,25 +403,29 @@ if(WITH_PYTHON)
     set(authz_venv_activate ". ${authz_venv_dir}/bin/activate")
   endif()
 
+  set(authz_venv_stamp_file ${authz_venv_dir}/venv.ready)
   if (NOT WIN32)
     add_test(
       NAME authorization_venv_setup
-      COMMAND bash -c "${Python3_EXECUTABLE} -m venv ${authz_venv_dir} && \
+      COMMAND bash -c "
               ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests/authorization/* ${authz_venv_dir}/ && \
               ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/tests/TestRunner/*_cluster.py ${authz_venv_dir}/ && \
-              ${authz_venv_activate} && \
-              pip install --upgrade pip && \
-              pip install --upgrade -r ${authz_venv_dir}/requirements.txt && \
-              (cd ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bindings/python && python3 setup.py install) && \
-              deactivate"
+              ( \
+			      [[ ! -f ${authz_venv_stamp_file} ]] && \
+                  ${Python3_EXECUTABLE} -m venv ${authz_venv_dir} && \
+                  ${authz_venv_activate} && \
+                  pip install --upgrade pip && \
+                  pip install --upgrade -r ${authz_venv_dir}/requirements.txt && \
+                  (cd ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/bindings/python && python3 setup.py install) && \
+                  touch ${authz_venv_stamp_file} \
+		      || echo \"venv already set up\")"
       WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
 
     add_test(
       NAME token_based_tenant_authorization
       WORKING_DIRECTORY ${authz_venv_dir}
       COMMAND bash -c "${authz_venv_activate} && \
-              LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib pytest authz_test.py --build-dir ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR} && \
-              deactivate"
+              LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib pytest authz_test.py --build-dir ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}"
           )
     set_tests_properties(token_based_tenant_authorization PROPERTIES FIXTURES_REQUIRED authz_virtual_env)
     set_tests_properties(authorization_venv_setup PROPERTIES FIXTURES_SETUP authz_virtual_env)
diff --git a/tests/authorization/authz_test.py b/tests/authorization/authz_test.py
index 5201a149f0..ca5753a91c 100644
--- a/tests/authorization/authz_test.py
+++ b/tests/authorization/authz_test.py
@@ -21,11 +21,9 @@ def token_claim_1h(tenant_name: str):
     }
 
 def test_simple_tenant_access(db, token_gen, default_tenant, default_tenant_tr_gen):
-    token = token_gen(token_claim_1h(str(default_tenant)))
+    token = token_gen(token_claim_1h(default_tenant.decode("ascii")))
     tr = default_tenant_tr_gen()
     tr.options.set_authorization_token(token)
-    tr.options.set_debug_transaction_identifier("XYZ")
-    tr.options.set_log_transaction()
     tr[b'abc'] = b'def'
     tr.commit().wait()
     tr = default_tenant_tr_gen()
diff --git a/tests/authorization/conftest.py b/tests/authorization/conftest.py
index a85ae441ac..9842f01914 100644
--- a/tests/authorization/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/authorization/conftest.py
@@ -23,17 +23,6 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
 def random_alphanum_str(k: int):
     return ''.join(random.choices(string.ascii_letters + string.digits, k=k))
 
-def cleanup_tenant(db, tenant_name):
-    try:
-        tenant = db.open_tenant(tenant_name)
-        del tenant[:]
-        fdb.tenant_management.delete_tenant(db, tenant_name)
-    except fdb.FDBError as e:
-        if e.code == 2131: # tenant not found
-            pass
-        else:
-            raise
-
 @pytest.fixture
 def build_dir(request):
     return request.config.option.build_dir
@@ -85,7 +74,7 @@ def cluster(build_dir, public_key_jwks_str, trusted_client):
             build_dir=build_dir,
             tls_config=TLSConfig(server_chain_len=3, client_chain_len=2),
             public_key_json_str=public_key_jwks_str,
-            remove_at_exit=False,
+            remove_at_exit=True,
             custom_config={"code-probes": "all"}) as cluster:
         fdb.options.set_tls_key_path(str(cluster.client_key_file) if trusted_client else "")
         fdb.options.set_tls_cert_path(str(cluster.client_cert_file) if trusted_client else "")
@@ -98,17 +87,13 @@ def db(cluster):
     db = fdb.open(str(cluster.cluster_file))
     db.options.set_transaction_timeout(2000) # 2 seconds
     db.options.set_transaction_retry_limit(3)
-    yield db
-    tenants = fdb.tenant_management.list_tenants(db, b'', b'\xff', 100)
-    print("Cleaning up tenants: {}".format(tenants))
-    for tenant in tenants:
-        cleanup_tenant(db, tenant)
+    return db
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def default_tenant(db):
+def default_tenant(cluster):
     tenant = random_alphanum_str(8).encode("ascii")
-    yield tenant
-    cleanup_tenant(db, tenant)
+    cluster.fdbcli_exec("createtenant {}".format(tenant.decode("ascii")))
+    return tenant
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def default_tenant_tr_gen(db, default_tenant):