diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/AbstractSharedClusterTest.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/AbstractSharedClusterTest.java
index c38eedeb155..09c3344db2c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/AbstractSharedClusterTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/AbstractSharedClusterTest.java
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractSharedClusterTest extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         for (String name : names) {
             try {
                 prepareCreate(name).setSettings(getSettings()).execute().actionGet();
-                return;
+                continue;
             } catch (IndexAlreadyExistsException ex) {
                 wipeIndex(name);
             }
@@ -236,6 +236,13 @@ public abstract class AbstractSharedClusterTest extends ElasticsearchTestCase {
         assertThat(actionGet.isTimedOut(), equalTo(false));
         return actionGet.getStatus();
     }
+    
+    public ClusterHealthStatus ensureYellow() {
+        ClusterHealthResponse actionGet = client().admin().cluster()
+                .health(Requests.clusterHealthRequest().waitForYellowStatus().waitForEvents(Priority.LANGUID)).actionGet();
+        assertThat(actionGet.isTimedOut(), equalTo(false));
+        return actionGet.getStatus();
+    }
 
     public static String commaString(Iterable<String> strings) {
         return Joiner.on(',').join(strings);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/IgnoreIndicesTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/IgnoreIndicesTests.java
index 4f97683e84f..94a877b59ca 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/IgnoreIndicesTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/indices/IgnoreIndicesTests.java
@@ -179,20 +179,11 @@ public class IgnoreIndicesTests extends AbstractSharedClusterTest {
     @Test
     // For now don't handle closed indices
     public void testClosed() throws Exception {
-        client().admin().indices().prepareDelete().execute().actionGet();
-
-        client().admin().indices().prepareCreate("test1").execute().actionGet();
-        client().admin().indices().prepareCreate("test2").execute().actionGet();
-
-        ClusterHealthResponse clusterHealthResponse = client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForEvents(Priority.LANGUID).setWaitForYellowStatus().execute().actionGet();
-        assertThat(clusterHealthResponse.isTimedOut(), equalTo(false));
-
+        createIndex("test1", "test2");
+        ensureYellow();
         client().prepareSearch("test1", "test2").setQuery(QueryBuilders.matchAllQuery()).execute().actionGet();
-
         client().admin().indices().prepareClose("test2").execute().actionGet();
-
-        clusterHealthResponse = client().admin().cluster().prepareHealth().setWaitForEvents(Priority.LANGUID).setWaitForYellowStatus().execute().actionGet();
-        assertThat(clusterHealthResponse.isTimedOut(), equalTo(false));
+        ensureYellow();
 
         try {
             client().prepareSearch("test1", "test2").setQuery(QueryBuilders.matchAllQuery()).execute().actionGet();
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/sort/SimpleSortTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/sort/SimpleSortTests.java
index 65f0e02b6f7..144f621cb69 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/sort/SimpleSortTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/sort/SimpleSortTests.java
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import org.elasticsearch.common.Priority;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.ImmutableSettings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.text.Text;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentBuilder;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.xcontent.XContentFactory;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.SearchHit;
 import org.elasticsearch.search.sort.SortBuilders;
@@ -526,31 +527,18 @@ public class SimpleSortTests extends AbstractSharedClusterTest {
     
     @Test 
     public void testSortScript() throws IOException {
-        String mapping = jsonBuilder().startObject().startObject("profile").field("dynamic", "strict")
-                .startObject("properties")
-                .startObject("id").field("type", "integer").field("index", "not_analyzed").field("store", true).endObject()
-                .startObject("groups_code").startObject("properties").field("type", "integer").field("index", "not_analyzed").endObject().endObject()
-                .startObject("date").field("type", "date").field("index", "not_analyzed").field("format", "date_time_no_millis").endObject()
-                .endObject().endObject().endObject().string();
-        prepareCreate("test")
-                .setSettings(randomSettingsBuilder().put("index.number_of_shards", 2).put("index.number_of_replicas", 0)).addMapping("test", mapping);
+       createIndexMapped("test", "test", "value", "string");
         ensureGreen();
-
-        client().prepareIndex("test", "test", "1").setSource(jsonBuilder().startObject()
-                .startArray("groups_code").startObject().field("id", 47642).field("date", "2010-08-12T07:54:55Z").endObject().endArray()
-                .endObject()).execute().actionGet();
-        client().prepareIndex("test", "test", "2").setSource(jsonBuilder().startObject()
-                .startArray("groups_code").startObject().field("id", 47642).field("date", "2010-05-04T12:10:54Z").endObject().endArray()
-                .endObject()).execute().actionGet();
-        client().admin().indices().prepareRefresh("test").execute().actionGet();
-
+        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
+            client().prepareIndex("test", "test", "1").setSource(jsonBuilder().startObject()
+                    .field("value", "" + i).endObject()).execute().actionGet();
+        }
+        refresh();
         SearchResponse searchResponse = client().prepareSearch()
                 .setQuery(matchAllQuery())
                 .addSort(SortBuilders.scriptSort("\u0027\u0027", "string")).setSize(10)
                 .execute().actionGet();
-
         assertThat("Failures " + Arrays.toString(searchResponse.getShardFailures()), searchResponse.getShardFailures().length, equalTo(0));
-        
     }
     
     @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/stats/SearchStatsTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/stats/SearchStatsTests.java
index c8176d309de..5f85c8f8b50 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/stats/SearchStatsTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/integration/search/stats/SearchStatsTests.java
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ public class SearchStatsTests extends AbstractSharedClusterTest {
 
     @Test
     public void testSimpleStats() throws Exception {
+        // clear all stats first
+        client().admin().indices().prepareStats().clear().execute().actionGet();
         createIndex("test1");
         for (int i = 0; i < 500; i++) {
             client().prepareIndex("test1", "type", Integer.toString(i)).setSource("field", "value").execute().actionGet();