diff --git a/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig-nativelock.xml b/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig-nativelock.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 7b5b6f7de93..00000000000
--- a/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig-nativelock.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" ?>
-
-<!--
- Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
- contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
- this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
- The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
- (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
- the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
- Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- limitations under the License.
--->
-<config>
-  <!--
-  Config file used by SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest#testNativeLockErrorOnStartup
-  It requires the native lockType
-  -->
-  <jmx />
-
-  <dataDir>${solr.data.dir:}</dataDir>
-
-  <luceneMatchVersion>${tests.luceneMatchVersion:LUCENE_CURRENT}</luceneMatchVersion>
-
-  <indexConfig>
-    <useCompoundFile>${useCompoundFile:false}</useCompoundFile>
-    <lockType>native</lockType>
-  </indexConfig>
-</config>
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig-simplelock.xml b/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig-simplelock.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 7981b846850..00000000000
--- a/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig-simplelock.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,34 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" ?>
-
-<!--
- Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
- contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
- this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
- The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
- (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
- the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
- Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
- distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
- WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
- See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
- limitations under the License.
--->
-<config>
-  <!--
-  Config file used by SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest#testSimpleLockErrorOnStartup
-  It requires the simple lockType
-  -->
-  <jmx />
-
-  <dataDir>${solr.data.dir:}</dataDir>
-
-  <luceneMatchVersion>${tests.luceneMatchVersion:LUCENE_CURRENT}</luceneMatchVersion>
-
-  <indexConfig>
-    <useCompoundFile>${useCompoundFile:false}</useCompoundFile>
-    <lockType>simple</lockType>
-  </indexConfig>
-</config>
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig.snippet.randomindexconfig.xml b/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig.snippet.randomindexconfig.xml
index 0733d5c19dd..7514aa4788b 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig.snippet.randomindexconfig.xml
+++ b/solr/core/src/test-files/solr/collection1/conf/solrconfig.snippet.randomindexconfig.xml
@@ -38,5 +38,10 @@ A solrconfig.xml snippet containing indexConfig settings for randomized testing.
 
   <writeLockTimeout>1000</writeLockTimeout>
   <commitLockTimeout>10000</commitLockTimeout>
-  <lockType>single</lockType>
+
+  <!-- this sys property is not set by SolrTestCaseJ4 because almost all tests should
+       use the single process lockType for speed - but tests that explicitly need
+       to vary the lockType canset it as needed.
+  -->
+  <lockType>${solr.tests.lockType:single}</lockType>
 </indexConfig>
diff --git a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest.java b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest.java
index e6ce1da1ff0..e07b5ed6b75 100644
--- a/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest.java
+++ b/solr/core/src/test/org/apache/solr/core/SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest.java
@@ -62,12 +62,14 @@ public class SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest extends SolrTestCaseJ4 {
 
     ignoreException("locked");
     try {
+      System.setProperty("solr.tests.lockType","simple");
       //opening a new core on the same index
-      initCore("solrconfig-simplelock.xml", "schema.xml");
+      initCore("solrconfig-basic.xml", "schema.xml");
       if (checkForCoreInitException(LockObtainFailedException.class))
         return;
       fail("Expected " + LockObtainFailedException.class.getSimpleName());
     } finally {
+      System.clearProperty("solr.tests.lockType");
       unIgnoreException("locked");
       indexWriter.close();
       directory.close();
@@ -86,13 +88,15 @@ public class SolrCoreCheckLockOnStartupTest extends SolrTestCaseJ4 {
 
     ignoreException("locked");
     try {
+      System.setProperty("solr.tests.lockType","native");
       //opening a new core on the same index
-      initCore("solrconfig-nativelock.xml", "schema.xml");
+      initCore("solrconfig-basic.xml", "schema.xml");
       CoreContainer cc = h.getCoreContainer();
       if (checkForCoreInitException(LockObtainFailedException.class))
         return;
       fail("Expected " + LockObtainFailedException.class.getSimpleName());
     } finally {
+      System.clearProperty("solr.tests.lockType");
       unIgnoreException("locked");
       indexWriter.close();
       directory.close();