diff --git a/indexing-service/src/main/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskQueue.java b/indexing-service/src/main/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskQueue.java
index 87d8bc89728..5eed155fd66 100644
--- a/indexing-service/src/main/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskQueue.java
+++ b/indexing-service/src/main/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskQueue.java
@@ -207,6 +207,11 @@ public class TaskQueue
     }
   }
 
+  public boolean isActive()
+  {
+    return active;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Main task runner management loop. Meant to run forever, or, at least until we're stopped.
    */
diff --git a/indexing-service/src/test/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskLifecycleTest.java b/indexing-service/src/test/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskLifecycleTest.java
index cf46ccf5e92..8b0f02a8479 100644
--- a/indexing-service/src/test/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskLifecycleTest.java
+++ b/indexing-service/src/test/java/io/druid/indexing/overlord/TaskLifecycleTest.java
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
         };
       }
     };
-    setUpAndStartTaskQueue(
+    setUpTaskQueue(
         new DataSegmentPusher()
         {
           @Override
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
     );
   }
 
-  private void setUpAndStartTaskQueue(DataSegmentPusher dataSegmentPusher)
+  private void setUpTaskQueue(DataSegmentPusher dataSegmentPusher) throws Exception
   {
     final TaskConfig taskConfig = new TaskConfig(tmpDir.toString(), null, null, 50000, null, false, null, null);
     tsqa = new TaskStorageQueryAdapter(ts);
@@ -536,13 +536,14 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
     );
     tr = new ThreadPoolTaskRunner(tb, taskConfig, emitter);
     tq = new TaskQueue(tqc, ts, tr, tac, tl, emitter);
-    tq.start();
   }
 
   @After
   public void tearDown()
   {
-    tq.stop();
+    if (tq.isActive()) {
+      tq.stop();
+    }
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -864,7 +865,7 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
     Assert.assertEquals("segments nuked", 0, mdc.getNuked().size());
   }
 
-  @Test(timeout = 10000L)
+  @Test(timeout = 60_000L)
   public void testRealtimeIndexTask() throws Exception
   {
     monitorScheduler.addMonitor(EasyMock.anyObject(Monitor.class));
@@ -876,6 +877,7 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
     RealtimeIndexTask realtimeIndexTask = giveMeARealtimeIndexTask();
     final String taskId = realtimeIndexTask.getId();
 
+    tq.start();
     tq.add(realtimeIndexTask);
     //wait for task to process events and publish segment
     publishCountDown.await();
@@ -910,7 +912,7 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
   @Test(timeout = 60_000L)
   public void testRealtimeIndexTaskFailure() throws Exception
   {
-    setUpAndStartTaskQueue(
+    setUpTaskQueue(
         new DataSegmentPusher()
         {
           @Override
@@ -934,6 +936,8 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
 
     RealtimeIndexTask realtimeIndexTask = giveMeARealtimeIndexTask();
     final String taskId = realtimeIndexTask.getId();
+
+    tq.start();
     tq.add(realtimeIndexTask);
 
     // Wait for realtime index task to fail
@@ -974,6 +978,7 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
     final long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
 
     // manually insert the task into TaskStorage, waiting for TaskQueue to sync from storage
+    tq.start();
     ts.insert(indexTask, TaskStatus.running(indexTask.getId()));
 
     while (tsqa.getStatus(indexTask.getId()).get().isRunnable()) {
@@ -1022,6 +1027,7 @@ public class TaskLifecycleTest
 
     Preconditions.checkArgument(!task.getId().equals(dummyTask.getId()));
 
+    tq.start();
     tq.add(dummyTask);
     tq.add(task);