diff --git a/qa/sql/security/build.gradle b/qa/sql/security/build.gradle
index 679edaacfb5..9ed3d1298c8 100644
--- a/qa/sql/security/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/sql/security/build.gradle
@@ -12,8 +12,9 @@ integTestCluster {
   setting 'xpack.security.audit.index.events.include', '[access_denied, access_granted]'
   // Try and speed up audit logging without overwelming it
   setting 'xpack.security.audit.index.flush_interval', '250ms'
-  setting 'xpack.security.audit.index.settings.index.number_of_shards', '1'
-  setting 'xpack.security.audit.index.settings.index.refresh_interval', '250ms'
+  // NOCOMMIT reenable after https://github.com/elastic/x-pack-elasticsearch/issues/2705 for lower overhead tests
+  // setting 'xpack.security.audit.index.settings.index.number_of_shards', '1'
+  // setting 'xpack.security.audit.index.settings.index.refresh_interval', '250ms'
   // Setup roles used by tests
   extraConfigFile 'x-pack/roles.yml', 'roles.yml'
   /* Setup the one admin user that we run the tests as.
diff --git a/qa/sql/security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/qa/sql/security/RestSqlSecurityIT.java b/qa/sql/security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/qa/sql/security/RestSqlSecurityIT.java
index 80bada842f0..570671fc05e 100644
--- a/qa/sql/security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/qa/sql/security/RestSqlSecurityIT.java
+++ b/qa/sql/security/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/qa/sql/security/RestSqlSecurityIT.java
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ public class RestSqlSecurityIT extends ESRestTestCase {
      */
     @SafeVarargs
     private final void assertAuditEvents(CheckedFunction<Map<?, ?>, Boolean, Exception>... eventCheckers) throws Exception {
-        assumeFalse("Previous test had an audit-related failure. All subsequent audit related assertions are bogus because we can't "
+        assertFalse("Previous test had an audit-related failure. All subsequent audit related assertions are bogus because we can't "
                 + "guarantee that we fully cleaned up after the last test.", auditFailure);
         try {
             assertBusy(() -> {