diff --git a/qa/multi-cluster-search-security/build.gradle b/qa/multi-cluster-search-security/build.gradle
index 33c6aed4aa4..ba57a3a8461 100644
--- a/qa/multi-cluster-search-security/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/multi-cluster-search-security/build.gradle
@@ -38,11 +38,10 @@ remoteClusterTestRunner {
   systemProperty 'tests.rest.suite', 'remote_cluster'
 }
 
-task mixedClusterTest(type: RestIntegTestTask) {
-  dependsOn(remoteClusterTestRunner)
-}
+task mixedClusterTest(type: RestIntegTestTask) {}
 
 mixedClusterTestCluster {
+  dependsOn remoteClusterTestRunner
   plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
   setting 'xpack.watcher.enabled', 'false'
   setting 'xpack.monitoring.enabled', 'false'
diff --git a/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle b/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle
index 880291898b1..36730a44b8f 100644
--- a/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/rolling-upgrade/build.gradle
@@ -71,11 +71,10 @@ oldClusterTestRunner {
   systemProperty 'tests.rest.suite', 'old_cluster'
 }
 
-task mixedClusterTest(type: RestIntegTestTask) {
-    dependsOn(oldClusterTestRunner, 'oldClusterTestCluster#node1.stop')
-}
+task mixedClusterTest(type: RestIntegTestTask) {}
 
 mixedClusterTestCluster {
+    dependsOn oldClusterTestRunner, 'oldClusterTestCluster#node1.stop'
     plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
     distribution = 'zip'
     clusterName = 'rolling-upgrade'
@@ -92,11 +91,10 @@ mixedClusterTestRunner {
     finalizedBy 'oldClusterTestCluster#node0.stop'
 }
 
-task upgradedClusterTest(type: RestIntegTestTask) {
-    dependsOn(mixedClusterTestRunner, 'oldClusterTestCluster#node0.stop')
-}
+task upgradedClusterTest(type: RestIntegTestTask) {}
 
 upgradedClusterTestCluster {
+    dependsOn mixedClusterTestRunner, 'oldClusterTestCluster#node0.stop'
     plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
     distribution = 'zip'
     clusterName = 'rolling-upgrade'
diff --git a/qa/security-example-extension/build.gradle b/qa/security-example-extension/build.gradle
index 1fa9b0232b1..a5980b07362 100644
--- a/qa/security-example-extension/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/security-example-extension/build.gradle
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ task buildZip(type:Zip, dependsOn: [jar]) {
   from project.jar
 }
 
-task integTest(type: org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.RestIntegTestTask, dependsOn: buildZip) {
+task integTest(type: org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.RestIntegTestTask) {
   mustRunAfter precommit
 }
 
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ integTestRunner {
   systemProperty 'tests.security.manager', 'false'
 }
 integTestCluster {
+  dependsOn buildZip
   plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
   setting 'xpack.security.authc.realms.custom.order', '0'
   setting 'xpack.security.authc.realms.custom.type', 'custom'
diff --git a/qa/smoke-test-graph-with-security/build.gradle b/qa/smoke-test-graph-with-security/build.gradle
index 98db80dc539..347f0e74895 100644
--- a/qa/smoke-test-graph-with-security/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/smoke-test-graph-with-security/build.gradle
@@ -12,11 +12,8 @@ task copyGraphRestTests(type: Copy) {
   include 'rest-api-spec/test/graph/**'
 }
 
-integTest {
-  dependsOn copyGraphRestTests
-}
-
 integTestCluster {
+  dependsOn copyGraphRestTests
   plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
   extraConfigFile 'x-pack/roles.yml', 'roles.yml'
   setupCommand 'setupTestAdminUser',
diff --git a/qa/smoke-test-ml-with-security/build.gradle b/qa/smoke-test-ml-with-security/build.gradle
index 056caf3bae9..75c8fd150d6 100644
--- a/qa/smoke-test-ml-with-security/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/smoke-test-ml-with-security/build.gradle
@@ -12,10 +12,6 @@ task copyMlRestTests(type: Copy) {
   include 'rest-api-spec/test/ml/**'
 }
 
-integTest {
-  dependsOn copyMlRestTests
-}
-
 integTestRunner {
   systemProperty 'tests.rest.blacklist', [
     // Remove tests that are expected to throw an exception, because we cannot then
@@ -59,6 +55,7 @@ integTestRunner {
 }
 
 integTestCluster {
+  dependsOn copyMlRestTests
   plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
   extraConfigFile 'x-pack/roles.yml', 'roles.yml'
   setupCommand 'setupTestAdminUser',
diff --git a/qa/smoke-test-watcher-with-security/build.gradle b/qa/smoke-test-watcher-with-security/build.gradle
index be5e5b5d3b5..e9c24cb4073 100644
--- a/qa/smoke-test-watcher-with-security/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/smoke-test-watcher-with-security/build.gradle
@@ -12,10 +12,6 @@ task copyWatcherRestTests(type: Copy) {
   include 'rest-api-spec/test/watcher/**'
 }
 
-integTest {
-  dependsOn copyWatcherRestTests
-}
-
 integTestRunner {
   systemProperty 'tests.rest.blacklist',
     ['hijack/10_basic/*',
@@ -23,6 +19,7 @@ integTestRunner {
 }
 
 integTestCluster {
+  dependsOn copyWatcherRestTests
   plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
   extraConfigFile 'x-pack/roles.yml', 'roles.yml'
   setupCommand 'setupTestAdminUser',
diff --git a/qa/tribe-tests-with-license/build.gradle b/qa/tribe-tests-with-license/build.gradle
index 1dbb32e6513..7d8bf510592 100644
--- a/qa/tribe-tests-with-license/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/tribe-tests-with-license/build.gradle
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ cluster2Config.setting('xpack.ml.enabled', false)
 List<NodeInfo> cluster2Nodes = ClusterFormationTasks.setup(project, 'clusterTwo', setupClusterTwo, cluster2Config)
 
 integTestCluster {
+  dependsOn setupClusterOne, setupClusterTwo
   setting 'node.name', 'tribe-node'
   setting 'tribe.on_conflict', 'prefer_cluster1'
   setting 'tribe.cluster1.cluster.name', 'cluster1'
@@ -72,7 +73,6 @@ integTestCluster {
 }
 
 integTestRunner {
-  dependsOn(setupClusterOne, setupClusterTwo)
   systemProperty 'tests.cluster', "${-> cluster1Nodes.get(0).transportUri()}"
   systemProperty 'tests.cluster2', "${-> cluster2Nodes.get(0).transportUri()}"
   systemProperty 'tests.tribe', "${-> integTest.nodes.get(0).transportUri()}"
diff --git a/qa/tribe-tests-with-security/build.gradle b/qa/tribe-tests-with-security/build.gradle
index 0ed5f6c65e6..760c344131b 100644
--- a/qa/tribe-tests-with-security/build.gradle
+++ b/qa/tribe-tests-with-security/build.gradle
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ configTwo.waitCondition = { node, ant ->
 List<NodeInfo> cluster2Nodes = ClusterFormationTasks.setup(project, 'clusterTwo', setupClusterTwo, configTwo)
 
 integTestCluster {
+    dependsOn setupClusterOne, setupClusterTwo
     plugin ':x-pack-elasticsearch:plugin'
     setupCommand 'setupDummyUser',
             'bin/x-pack/users', 'useradd', 'test_user', '-p', 'changeme', '-r', 'superuser'
@@ -81,7 +82,6 @@ integTestCluster {
 }
 
 integTestRunner {
-    dependsOn(setupClusterOne, setupClusterTwo)
     systemProperty 'tests.cluster', "${-> cluster1Nodes.get(0).transportUri()}"
     systemProperty 'tests.cluster2', "${-> cluster2Nodes.get(0).transportUri()}"
     systemProperty 'tests.tribe', "${-> integTest.nodes.get(0).transportUri()}"