diff --git a/.testr.conf b/.testr.conf
index fd9442349bdf..1036ba0ca0ed 100644
--- a/.testr.conf
+++ b/.testr.conf
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 [DEFAULT]
-test_command=${PYTHON:-python} -m subunit.run discover -t ./ ./nova/tests $LISTOPT $IDOPTION
+test_command=OS_STDOUT_CAPTURE=1 OS_STDERR_CAPTURE=1 OS_TEST_TIMEOUT=60 ${PYTHON:-python} -m subunit.run discover -t ./ ./nova/tests $LISTOPT $IDOPTION
 test_id_option=--load-list $IDFILE
 test_list_option=--list
diff --git a/nova/test.py b/nova/test.py
index fd9c4a522d34..3fc25b12f647 100644
--- a/nova/test.py
+++ b/nova/test.py
@@ -191,17 +191,23 @@ class TestCase(testtools.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         """Run before each test method to initialize test environment."""
         super(TestCase, self).setUp()
-        # Give each test a maximum of one minute to run.
-        self.useFixture(fixtures.Timeout(60, gentle=True))
+        test_timeout = os.environ.get('OS_TEST_TIMEOUT', 0)
+        try:
+            test_timeout = int(test_timeout)
+        except ValueError:
+            # If timeout value is invalid do not set a timeout.
+            test_timeout = 0
+        if test_timeout > 0:
+            self.useFixture(fixtures.Timeout(test_timeout, gentle=True))
         self.useFixture(fixtures.NestedTempfile())
         self.useFixture(fixtures.TempHomeDir())
 
-        if (os.environ.get('OS_STDOUT_NOCAPTURE') != 'True' and
-                os.environ.get('OS_STDOUT_NOCAPTURE') != '1'):
+        if (os.environ.get('OS_STDOUT_CAPTURE') == 'True' or
+                os.environ.get('OS_STDOUT_CAPTURE') == '1'):
             stdout = self.useFixture(fixtures.StringStream('stdout')).stream
             self.useFixture(fixtures.MonkeyPatch('sys.stdout', stdout))
-        if (os.environ.get('OS_STDERR_NOCAPTURE') != 'True' and
-                os.environ.get('OS_STDERR_NOCAPTURE') != '1'):
+        if (os.environ.get('OS_STDERR_CAPTURE') == 'True' or
+                os.environ.get('OS_STDERR_CAPTURE') == '1'):
             stderr = self.useFixture(fixtures.StringStream('stderr')).stream
             self.useFixture(fixtures.MonkeyPatch('sys.stderr', stderr))
 
diff --git a/run_tests.sh b/run_tests.sh
index a3ed978035bb..a34cab5a0f29 100755
--- a/run_tests.sh
+++ b/run_tests.sh
@@ -59,8 +59,6 @@ recreate_db=1
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 LC_ALL=C
-OS_STDOUT_NOCAPTURE=False
-OS_STDERR_NOCAPTURE=False
 
 for arg in "$@"; do
   process_option $arg
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 4fa567518b18..a3e44630f8a5 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -6,9 +6,6 @@ setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
          LANG=en_US.UTF-8
          LANGUAGE=en_US:en
          LC_ALL=C
-         OS_STDOUT_NOCAPTURE=False
-         OS_STDERR_NOCAPTURE=False
-
 deps = -r{toxinidir}/tools/pip-requires
        -r{toxinidir}/tools/test-requires
 commands = bash -c 'if [ ! -d ./.testrepository ] ; then testr init ; fi'