diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHCM.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHCM.java
index 109143a54cf..b8f495f0176 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHCM.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/client/TestHCM.java
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ public class TestHCM {
     // We want to work on a separate connection.
     c2.set(HConstants.HBASE_CLIENT_INSTANCE_ID, String.valueOf(-1));
     c2.setInt(HConstants.HBASE_CLIENT_RETRIES_NUMBER, 100); // retry a lot
-    c2.setInt(HConstants.HBASE_CLIENT_PAUSE, 0); // don't wait between retries.
+    c2.setInt(HConstants.HBASE_CLIENT_PAUSE, 1); // don't wait between retries.
     c2.setInt(RpcClient.FAILED_SERVER_EXPIRY_KEY, 0); // Server do not really expire
     c2.setBoolean(RpcClient.SPECIFIC_WRITE_THREAD, allowsInterrupt);
 
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestRegionServerNoMaster.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestRegionServerNoMaster.java
index 592bf1e55ef..e71089d7fc1 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestRegionServerNoMaster.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestRegionServerNoMaster.java
@@ -92,12 +92,12 @@ public class TestRegionServerNoMaster {
       throws IOException, InterruptedException {
     // Stop master
     HMaster master = HTU.getHBaseCluster().getMaster();
+    Thread masterThread = HTU.getHBaseCluster().getMasterThread();
     ServerName masterAddr = master.getServerName();
     master.stopMaster();
 
     Log.info("Waiting until master thread exits");
-    while (HTU.getHBaseCluster().getMasterThread() != null
-        && HTU.getHBaseCluster().getMasterThread().isAlive()) {
+    while (masterThread != null && masterThread.isAlive()) {
       Threads.sleep(100);
     }
 
diff --git a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWALLockup.java b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWALLockup.java
index 11f77085040..a7014434f62 100644
--- a/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWALLockup.java
+++ b/hbase-server/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/hbase/regionserver/TestWALLockup.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ package org.apache.hadoop.hbase.regionserver;
 
 
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.concurrent.CountDownLatch;
@@ -233,8 +234,8 @@ public class TestWALLockup {
           try {
             region.flush(false);
           } catch (IOException e) {
-            // TODO Auto-generated catch block
-            e.printStackTrace();
+            LOG.info("In flush", e);
+            fail();
           }
         };
       };
@@ -246,13 +247,21 @@ public class TestWALLockup {
       assertTrue(originalWAL != dodgyWAL.getCurrentFileName());
       // Can I append to it?
       dodgyWAL.throwException = false;
-      region.put(put);
+      try {
+        region.put(put);
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        LOG.info("In the put", e);
+      }
     } finally {
       // To stop logRoller, its server has to say it is stopped.
       Mockito.when(server.isStopped()).thenReturn(true);
       if (logRoller != null) logRoller.interrupt();
-      if (region != null) region.close();
-      if (dodgyWAL != null) dodgyWAL.close();
+      try {
+        if (region != null) region.close();
+        if (dodgyWAL != null) dodgyWAL.close();
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        LOG.info("On way out", e);
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -265,4 +274,4 @@ public class TestWALLockup {
     return TEST_UTIL.createLocalHRegion(tableName, startKey, stopKey, false, Durability.SYNC_WAL,
       wal, COLUMN_FAMILY_BYTES);
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}