diff --git a/testsrc/org/olap4j/CellSetFormatterTest.java b/testsrc/org/olap4j/CellSetFormatterTest.java
index 259946a..d0862b1 100644
--- a/testsrc/org/olap4j/CellSetFormatterTest.java
+++ b/testsrc/org/olap4j/CellSetFormatterTest.java
@@ -31,9 +31,10 @@
  * @version $Id$
  */
 public class CellSetFormatterTest extends TestCase {
-    final TestContext.Tester tester = TestContext.instance().getTester();
+    private final TestContext testContext = TestContext.instance();
+    private final TestContext.Tester tester = testContext.getTester();
 
-    static final String query1 =
+    private static final String query1 =
         "select\n"
         + "  crossjoin(\n"
         + "    {[Time].[1997].[Q1], [Time].[1997].[Q2].[4]},\n"
@@ -43,7 +44,6 @@ public class CellSetFormatterTest extends TestCase {
         + "   [USA].[CA].[San Francisco]} on 1\n"
         + "FROM [Sales]";
 
-
     /**
      * Asserts that a query is formatted to an expected piece of text.
      *
diff --git a/testsrc/org/olap4j/ConnectionTest.java b/testsrc/org/olap4j/ConnectionTest.java
index 8386d87..111c1ec 100644
--- a/testsrc/org/olap4j/ConnectionTest.java
+++ b/testsrc/org/olap4j/ConnectionTest.java
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@
  * @version $Id$
  */
 public class ConnectionTest extends TestCase {
-    private final TestContext.Tester tester =
-        TestContext.instance().getTester();
+    private final TestContext testContext = TestContext.instance();
+    private final TestContext.Tester tester = testContext.getTester();
 
     private static final boolean IS_JDK_16 =
         System.getProperty("java.version").startsWith("1.6.");
@@ -1914,13 +1914,13 @@ public void testMetadata() throws Exception {
             break;
         default:
             assertNull(member.getDescription());
+            // mondrian does not set ordinals correctly
             assertEquals(-1, member.getOrdinal());
             assertEquals(1, member.getDepth());
             assertEquals(-1, member.getSolveOrder());
             assertFalse(member.isHidden());
             assertNull(member.getDataMember());
             assertFalse(member.isCalculatedInQuery());
-            break;
         }
 
         final NamedList<Property> propertyList = member.getProperties();
diff --git a/testsrc/org/olap4j/MetadataTest.java b/testsrc/org/olap4j/MetadataTest.java
index 52e70b2..2aa5e65 100644
--- a/testsrc/org/olap4j/MetadataTest.java
+++ b/testsrc/org/olap4j/MetadataTest.java
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 public class MetadataTest extends TestCase {
     private static final String NL = System.getProperty("line.separator");
 
-    private final TestContext.Tester tester;
+    private final TestContext testContext = TestContext.instance();
+    private final TestContext.Tester tester = testContext.getTester();
     private Connection connection;
     private String catalogName;
     private OlapConnection olapConnection;
@@ -100,7 +101,6 @@ public class MetadataTest extends TestCase {
         "COORDINATE_TYPE");
 
     public MetadataTest() throws SQLException {
-        tester = TestContext.instance().getTester();
     }
 
     protected void setUp() throws SQLException {
diff --git a/testsrc/org/olap4j/XmlaConnectionTest.java b/testsrc/org/olap4j/XmlaConnectionTest.java
index 6787d77..6294c7d 100644
--- a/testsrc/org/olap4j/XmlaConnectionTest.java
+++ b/testsrc/org/olap4j/XmlaConnectionTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ public class XmlaConnectionTest extends TestCase {
 
     public static final String DRIVER_CLASS_NAME =
         "org.olap4j.driver.xmla.XmlaOlap4jDriver";
+    private final TestContext testContext = TestContext.instance();
 
     static class XmlaOlap4jProxyMock implements XmlaOlap4jProxy {
         public byte[] get(URL url, String request) throws IOException {
@@ -215,7 +216,7 @@ public void testNoNonTrivalCallsOnConnect() throws Exception {
      * @throws Exception If the test fails.
      */
     public void testNoDoubleQuerySubmission() throws Exception {
-        if (!TestContext.instance().getProperties()
+        if (!testContext.getProperties()
             .get(TestContext.Property.HELPER_CLASS_NAME.path)
             .equals("org.olap4j.XmlaTester"))
         {
@@ -227,7 +228,7 @@ public void testNoDoubleQuerySubmission() throws Exception {
         DoubleSubmissionTestProxy.setProxyClassName(oldValue);
         try {
             final TestContext.Tester tester =
-                TestContext.instance().getTester();
+                testContext.getTester();
             Connection connection = tester.createConnection();
             Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
             final OlapStatement olapStatement =
diff --git a/testsrc/org/olap4j/test/TestContext.java b/testsrc/org/olap4j/test/TestContext.java
index 04861b7..66d244d 100644
--- a/testsrc/org/olap4j/test/TestContext.java
+++ b/testsrc/org/olap4j/test/TestContext.java
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@
 public class TestContext {
     public static final String NL = System.getProperty("line.separator");
     private static final String indent = "                ";
-    private static final TestContext INSTANCE = new TestContext();
     private static final String lineBreak2 = "\\\\n\"" + NL + indent + "+ \"";
     private static final String lineBreak3 = "\\n\"" + NL + indent + "+ \"";
     private static final Pattern LineBreakPattern =
@@ -47,7 +46,11 @@ public class TestContext {
     private static final Pattern TabPattern = Pattern.compile("\t");
     private static Properties testProperties;
     private static final ThreadLocal<TestContext> THREAD_INSTANCE =
-        new ThreadLocal<TestContext>();
+        new ThreadLocal<TestContext>() {
+            protected TestContext initialValue() {
+                return new TestContext();
+            }
+        };
 
     /**
      * The following classes are part of the TCK. Each driver should call them.
@@ -177,11 +180,7 @@ public static String toString(CellSet cellSet) {
      * @return default TestContext
      */
     public static TestContext instance() {
-        final TestContext i = THREAD_INSTANCE.get();
-        if (i != null) {
-            return i;
-        }
-        return INSTANCE;
+        return THREAD_INSTANCE.get();
     }
 
     /**
@@ -333,6 +332,13 @@ private static Tester createTester(
             testProperties.getProperty(Property.HELPER_CLASS_NAME.path);
         if (helperClassName == null) {
             helperClassName = "org.olap4j.XmlaTester";
+            if (!testProperties.containsKey(
+                TestContext.Property.XMLA_CATALOG_URL.path))
+            {
+                testProperties.setProperty(
+                    TestContext.Property.XMLA_CATALOG_URL.path,
+                    "dummy_xmla_catalog_url");
+            }
         }
         Tester tester;
         try {