diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index ab763a54e..33c5a1ca7 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -15,15 +15,10 @@ env:
 before_script:
   - if [[ $TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION = '5.6' && $DB = 'sqlite' ]]; then PHPUNIT_FLAGS="--coverage-clover ./build/logs/clover.xml"; else PHPUNIT_FLAGS=""; fi
   - if [[ $TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION != '5.6' && $TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION != 'hhvm' && $TRAVIS_PHP_VERSION != 'hhvm-nightly' ]]; then phpenv config-rm xdebug.ini;  fi
-  - if [ $DB = 'pgsql' ]; then psql -c 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS doctrine_tests;' -U postgres; fi
-  - if [ $DB = 'pgsql' ]; then psql -c 'DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS doctrine_tests_tmp;' -U postgres; fi
-  - if [ $DB = 'pgsql' ]; then psql -c 'create database doctrine_tests;' -U postgres; fi
-  - if [ $DB = 'pgsql' ]; then psql -c 'create database doctrine_tests_tmp;' -U postgres; fi
-  - if [ $DB = 'mysql' ]; then mysql -e 'create database IF NOT EXISTS doctrine_tests_tmp;create database IF NOT EXISTS doctrine_tests;'; fi
   - composer self-update
   - composer install --prefer-source --dev
 
-script: 
+script:
   - ENABLE_SECOND_LEVEL_CACHE=0 ./vendor/bin/phpunit -v -c tests/travis/$DB.travis.xml $PHPUNIT_FLAGS
   - ENABLE_SECOND_LEVEL_CACHE=1 ./vendor/bin/phpunit -v -c tests/travis/$DB.travis.xml --exclude-group performance,non-cacheable,locking_functional
 
diff --git a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/TestUtil.php b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/TestUtil.php
index 451a2b76d..3bc6bffdc 100644
--- a/tests/Doctrine/Tests/TestUtil.php
+++ b/tests/Doctrine/Tests/TestUtil.php
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 namespace Doctrine\Tests;
 
+use Doctrine\DBAL\Connection;
+use Doctrine\DBAL\DriverManager;
+
 /**
  * TestUtil is a class with static utility methods used during tests.
  *
@@ -9,6 +12,11 @@ namespace Doctrine\Tests;
  */
 class TestUtil
 {
+    /**
+     * @var boolean Whether the database schema is initialized.
+     */
+    private static $initialized = false;
+
     /**
      * Gets a <b>real</b> database connection using the following parameters
      * of the $GLOBALS array:
@@ -17,6 +25,8 @@ class TestUtil
      * 'db_username' : The username to use for connecting.
      * 'db_password' : The password to use for connecting.
      * 'db_host' : The hostname of the database to connect to.
+     * 'db_server' : The server name of the database to connect to
+     *               (optional, some vendors allow multiple server instances with different names on the same host).
      * 'db_name' : The name of the database to connect to.
      * 'db_port' : The port of the database to connect to.
      *
@@ -28,92 +38,162 @@ class TestUtil
      * 1) Each invocation of this method returns a NEW database connection.
      * 2) The database is dropped and recreated to ensure it's clean.
      *
-     * @return \Doctrine\DBAL\Connection The database connection instance.
+     * @return Connection The database connection instance.
      */
     public static function getConnection()
     {
-        if (isset($GLOBALS['db_type'], $GLOBALS['db_username'], $GLOBALS['db_password'],
-                $GLOBALS['db_host'], $GLOBALS['db_name'], $GLOBALS['db_port']) &&
-           isset($GLOBALS['tmpdb_type'], $GLOBALS['tmpdb_username'], $GLOBALS['tmpdb_password'],
-                $GLOBALS['tmpdb_host'], $GLOBALS['tmpdb_name'], $GLOBALS['tmpdb_port'])) {
-            $realDbParams = array(
-                'driver' => $GLOBALS['db_type'],
-                'user' => $GLOBALS['db_username'],
-                'password' => $GLOBALS['db_password'],
-                'host' => $GLOBALS['db_host'],
-                'dbname' => $GLOBALS['db_name'],
-                'port' => $GLOBALS['db_port']
-            );
-            $tmpDbParams = array(
-                'driver' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_type'],
-                'user' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_username'],
-                'password' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_password'],
-                'host' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_host'],
-                'dbname' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_name'],
-                'port' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_port']
-            );
+        $conn = DriverManager::getConnection(self::getConnectionParams());
 
-            $realConn = \Doctrine\DBAL\DriverManager::getConnection($realDbParams);
-
-            $platform  = $realConn->getDatabasePlatform();
-
-            if ($platform->supportsCreateDropDatabase()) {
-                $dbname = $realConn->getDatabase();
-                // Connect to tmpdb in order to drop and create the real test db.
-                $tmpConn = \Doctrine\DBAL\DriverManager::getConnection($tmpDbParams);
-                $realConn->close();
-
-                $tmpConn->getSchemaManager()->dropDatabase($dbname);
-                $tmpConn->getSchemaManager()->createDatabase($dbname);
-
-                $tmpConn->close();
-            } else {
-                $sm = $realConn->getSchemaManager();
-
-                /* @var $schema Schema */
-                $schema = $sm->createSchema();
-                $stmts = $schema->toDropSql($realConn->getDatabasePlatform());
-
-                foreach ($stmts AS $stmt) {
-                    try {
-                        $realConn->exec($stmt);
-                    } catch(\Exception $e) {
-                        // TODO: Now is this a real good idea?
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-
-            $conn = \Doctrine\DBAL\DriverManager::getConnection($realDbParams, null, null);
-        } else {
-            $params = array(
-                'driver' => 'pdo_sqlite',
-                'memory' => true
-            );
-            if (isset($GLOBALS['db_path'])) {
-                $params['path'] = $GLOBALS['db_path'];
-                unlink($GLOBALS['db_path']);
-            }
-            $conn = \Doctrine\DBAL\DriverManager::getConnection($params);
-        }
+        self::addDbEventSubscribers($conn);
 
         return $conn;
     }
 
     /**
-     * @return \Doctrine\DBAL\Connection
+     * @return Connection
      */
     public static function getTempConnection()
     {
-        $tmpDbParams = array(
+        return DriverManager::getConnection(self::getParamsForTemporaryConnection());
+    }
+
+    private static function getConnectionParams()
+    {
+        if (self::hasRequiredConnectionParams()) {
+            return self::getSpecifiedConnectionParams();
+        }
+
+        return self::getFallbackConnectionParams();
+    }
+
+    private static function hasRequiredConnectionParams()
+    {
+        return isset(
+            $GLOBALS['db_type'],
+            $GLOBALS['db_username'],
+            $GLOBALS['db_password'],
+            $GLOBALS['db_host'],
+            $GLOBALS['db_name'],
+            $GLOBALS['db_port']
+        )
+        && isset(
+            $GLOBALS['tmpdb_type'],
+            $GLOBALS['tmpdb_username'],
+            $GLOBALS['tmpdb_password'],
+            $GLOBALS['tmpdb_host'],
+            $GLOBALS['tmpdb_port']
+        );
+    }
+
+    private static function getSpecifiedConnectionParams()
+    {
+        $realDbParams = self::getParamsForMainConnection();
+
+        if (! self::$initialized) {
+            $tmpDbParams = self::getParamsForTemporaryConnection();
+
+            $realConn = DriverManager::getConnection($realDbParams);
+
+            // Connect to tmpdb in order to drop and create the real test db.
+            $tmpConn = DriverManager::getConnection($tmpDbParams);
+
+            $platform  = $tmpConn->getDatabasePlatform();
+
+            if ($platform->supportsCreateDropDatabase()) {
+                $dbname = $realConn->getDatabase();
+                $realConn->close();
+
+                $tmpConn->getSchemaManager()->dropAndCreateDatabase($dbname);
+
+                $tmpConn->close();
+            } else {
+                $sm = $realConn->getSchemaManager();
+
+                $schema = $sm->createSchema();
+                $stmts = $schema->toDropSql($realConn->getDatabasePlatform());
+
+                foreach ($stmts as $stmt) {
+                    $realConn->exec($stmt);
+                }
+            }
+
+            self::$initialized = true;
+        }
+
+        return $realDbParams;
+    }
+
+    private static function getFallbackConnectionParams()
+    {
+        $params = array(
+            'driver' => 'pdo_sqlite',
+            'memory' => true
+        );
+
+        if (isset($GLOBALS['db_path'])) {
+            $params['path'] = $GLOBALS['db_path'];
+            unlink($GLOBALS['db_path']);
+        }
+
+        return $params;
+    }
+
+    private static function addDbEventSubscribers(Connection $conn)
+    {
+        if (isset($GLOBALS['db_event_subscribers'])) {
+            $evm = $conn->getEventManager();
+            foreach (explode(",", $GLOBALS['db_event_subscribers']) as $subscriberClass) {
+                $subscriberInstance = new $subscriberClass();
+                $evm->addEventSubscriber($subscriberInstance);
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static function getParamsForTemporaryConnection()
+    {
+        $connectionParams = array(
             'driver' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_type'],
             'user' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_username'],
             'password' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_password'],
             'host' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_host'],
-            'dbname' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_name'],
+            'dbname' => null,
             'port' => $GLOBALS['tmpdb_port']
         );
 
-        // Connect to tmpdb in order to drop and create the real test db.
-        return \Doctrine\DBAL\DriverManager::getConnection($tmpDbParams);
+        if (isset($GLOBALS['tmpdb_name'])) {
+            $connectionParams['dbname'] = $GLOBALS['tmpdb_name'];
+        }
+
+        if (isset($GLOBALS['tmpdb_server'])) {
+            $connectionParams['server'] = $GLOBALS['tmpdb_server'];
+        }
+
+        if (isset($GLOBALS['tmpdb_unix_socket'])) {
+            $connectionParams['unix_socket'] = $GLOBALS['tmpdb_unix_socket'];
+        }
+
+        return $connectionParams;
+    }
+
+    private static function getParamsForMainConnection()
+    {
+        $connectionParams = array(
+            'driver' => $GLOBALS['db_type'],
+            'user' => $GLOBALS['db_username'],
+            'password' => $GLOBALS['db_password'],
+            'host' => $GLOBALS['db_host'],
+            'dbname' => $GLOBALS['db_name'],
+            'port' => $GLOBALS['db_port']
+        );
+
+        if (isset($GLOBALS['db_server'])) {
+            $connectionParams['server'] = $GLOBALS['db_server'];
+        }
+
+        if (isset($GLOBALS['db_unix_socket'])) {
+            $connectionParams['unix_socket'] = $GLOBALS['db_unix_socket'];
+        }
+
+        return $connectionParams;
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/travis/mysql.travis.xml b/tests/travis/mysql.travis.xml
index 84c8fa1b3..bac3fa480 100644
--- a/tests/travis/mysql.travis.xml
+++ b/tests/travis/mysql.travis.xml
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
         <var name="tmpdb_host" value="localhost" />
         <var name="tmpdb_username" value="travis" />
         <var name="tmpdb_password" value="" />
-        <var name="tmpdb_name" value="doctrine_tests_tmp" />
         <var name="tmpdb_port" value="3306"/>
     </php>
 
diff --git a/tests/travis/pgsql.travis.xml b/tests/travis/pgsql.travis.xml
index 8b053576c..d1a0a49f2 100644
--- a/tests/travis/pgsql.travis.xml
+++ b/tests/travis/pgsql.travis.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
         <var name="tmpdb_host" value="localhost" />
         <var name="tmpdb_username" value="postgres" />
         <var name="tmpdb_password" value="" />
-        <var name="tmpdb_name" value="doctrine_tests_tmp" />
         <var name="tmpdb_port" value="5432"/>
     </php>