diff --git a/watcher/pom.xml b/watcher/pom.xml
index 181579c6135..e52fbc98a0a 100644
--- a/watcher/pom.xml
+++ b/watcher/pom.xml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
         <elasticsearch.integ.antfile>dev-tools/integration-tests.xml</elasticsearch.integ.antfile>
         <tests.rest.load_packaged>false</tests.rest.load_packaged>
         <tests.timewarp>true</tests.timewarp>
+        <tests.rest.blacklist>hijack/10_basic/*</tests.rest.blacklist>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherDisabledLicenseRestTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherDisabledLicenseRestTests.java
index ba12e1229eb..75df4daf8d3 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherDisabledLicenseRestTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherDisabledLicenseRestTests.java
@@ -31,16 +31,14 @@ public class WatcherDisabledLicenseRestTests extends WatcherRestTests {
 
     @Test
     public void test() throws IOException {
-        disableLicensing();
         try {
+            disableLicensing();
             super.test();
             fail();
-        } catch(AssertionError ae) {
-            if (ae.getMessage() == null || ae.getMessage().contains("not supported")){
-                //This was a test testing the "hijacked" methods
-                return;
-            }
-            assertThat(ae.getMessage(), containsString("license expired for feature [watcher]"));
+        } catch(AssertionError e) {
+            assertThat(e.getMessage(), containsString("license expired for feature [watcher]"));
+        } finally {
+            enableLicensing();
         }
     }
 
@@ -49,4 +47,15 @@ public class WatcherDisabledLicenseRestTests extends WatcherRestTests {
             service.disable();
         }
     }
+
+    public static void enableLicensing() {
+        for (MockLicenseService service : internalCluster().getInstances(MockLicenseService.class)) {
+            service.enable();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected boolean enableShield() {
+        return false;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherShieldAuthorizationFailedRestTests.java b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherShieldAuthorizationFailedRestTests.java
index 2fc4a8238e5..b5ebd58690e 100644
--- a/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherShieldAuthorizationFailedRestTests.java
+++ b/watcher/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/test/rest/WatcherShieldAuthorizationFailedRestTests.java
@@ -6,27 +6,13 @@
 package org.elasticsearch.watcher.test.rest;
 
 import com.carrotsearch.randomizedtesting.annotations.Name;
-import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.support.Headers;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.io.FileSystemUtils;
-import org.elasticsearch.common.io.Streams;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
-import org.elasticsearch.license.plugin.LicensePlugin;
-import org.elasticsearch.node.Node;
-import org.elasticsearch.plugins.PluginsService;
-import org.elasticsearch.shield.ShieldPlugin;
-import org.elasticsearch.shield.authc.esusers.ESUsersRealm;
-import org.elasticsearch.shield.authc.support.Hasher;
 import org.elasticsearch.shield.authc.support.SecuredString;
 import org.elasticsearch.test.rest.RestTestCandidate;
-import org.elasticsearch.watcher.WatcherPlugin;
-import org.elasticsearch.watcher.test.AbstractWatcherIntegrationTests;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
-import java.nio.file.Files;
-import java.nio.file.Path;
 
 import static org.elasticsearch.shield.authc.support.UsernamePasswordToken.basicAuthHeaderValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
@@ -50,12 +36,16 @@ public class WatcherShieldAuthorizationFailedRestTests extends WatcherRestTests
             super.test();
             fail();
         } catch(AssertionError ae) {
-            if (ae.getMessage() == null || ae.getMessage().contains("not supported")){
-                //This was a test testing the "hijacked" methods
-                return;
-            }
             assertThat(ae.getMessage(), containsString("returned [403 Forbidden]"));
-            assertThat(ae.getMessage(), containsString("is unauthorized for user [admin]"));
+            assertThat(ae.getMessage(), containsString("is unauthorized for user [test]"));
         }
     }
+
+    @Override
+    protected Settings restClientSettings() {
+        String token = basicAuthHeaderValue("test", new SecuredString("changeme".toCharArray()));
+        return Settings.builder()
+                .put(Headers.PREFIX + ".Authorization", token)
+                .build();
+    }
 }