diff --git a/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldIntegrationTest.java b/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldIntegrationTest.java
index 9c8e568d430..7283ce0729a 100644
--- a/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldIntegrationTest.java
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ public abstract class ShieldIntegrationTest extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest
     @Override
     protected Settings externalClusterClientSettings() {
         return Settings.builder()
+                .put("plugin.types", ShieldPlugin.class.getName())
                 .put("shield.user", ShieldSettingsSource.DEFAULT_USER_NAME + ":" + ShieldSettingsSource.DEFAULT_PASSWORD)
                 .build();
     }
diff --git a/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldRestTestCase.java b/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldRestTestCase.java
index ed2e7bc9285..81befa5b784 100644
--- a/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldRestTestCase.java
+++ b/shield/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/test/ShieldRestTestCase.java
@@ -88,7 +88,11 @@ public abstract class ShieldRestTestCase extends ShieldIntegrationTest {
 
         @Override
         public Settings nodeSettings(int ordinal) {
-            return super.nodeSettings(ordinal);
+            return Settings.builder()
+                    .put(super.nodeSettings(ordinal))
+                    .put(ShieldRestTestCase.super.nodeSettings(ordinal))
+                    .put(Node.HTTP_ENABLED, true)
+                    .build();
         }
 
         @Override