diff --git a/awx/conf/tests/__init__.py b/awx/conf/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/awx/conf/tests/test_env.py b/awx/conf/tests/test_env.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..135c90d99b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/awx/conf/tests/test_env.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+
+# Ensure that our autouse overwrites are working
+def test_cache(settings):
+    assert settings.CACHES['default']['BACKEND'] == 'django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache'
+    assert settings.CACHES['default']['LOCATION'].startswith('unique-')
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/conftest.py b/awx/main/tests/conftest.py
index 946c930dc5..0c3cb513ec 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/conftest.py
@@ -106,3 +106,21 @@ def get_ssh_version(mocker):
 @pytest.fixture
 def job_template_with_survey_passwords_unit(job_template_with_survey_passwords_factory):
     return job_template_with_survey_passwords_factory(persisted=False)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def mock_cache():
+    class MockCache(object):
+        cache = {}
+
+        def get(self, key, default=None):
+            return self.cache.get(key, default)
+
+        def set(self, key, value, timeout=60):
+            self.cache[key] = value
+
+        def delete(self, key):
+            del self.cache[key]
+
+    return MockCache()
+
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py
index d5b45cf728..28d7b65564 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/conftest.py
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ from six.moves import xrange
 
 # Django
 from django.core.urlresolvers import resolve
-from django.core.cache import cache
 from django.utils.six.moves.urllib.parse import urlparse
 from django.utils import timezone
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
@@ -57,14 +56,6 @@ def swagger_autogen(requests=__SWAGGER_REQUESTS__):
     return requests
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def clear_cache():
-    '''
-    Clear cache (local memory) for each test to prevent using cached settings.
-    '''
-    cache.clear()
-
-
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session", autouse=True)
 def celery_memory_broker():
     '''
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_scheduler.py b/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_scheduler.py
index 116deba3ad..82625533c7 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_scheduler.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/functional/task_management/test_scheduler.py
@@ -241,15 +241,16 @@ def test_shared_dependencies_launch(default_instance_group, job_template_factory
 
 
 @pytest.mark.django_db
-def test_cleanup_interval():
-    assert cache.get('last_celery_task_cleanup') is None
+def test_cleanup_interval(mock_cache):
+    with mock.patch.multiple('awx.main.scheduler.task_manager.cache', get=mock_cache.get, set=mock_cache.set):
+        assert mock_cache.get('last_celery_task_cleanup') is None
 
-    TaskManager().cleanup_inconsistent_celery_tasks()
-    last_cleanup = cache.get('last_celery_task_cleanup')
-    assert isinstance(last_cleanup, datetime)
+        TaskManager().cleanup_inconsistent_celery_tasks()
+        last_cleanup = mock_cache.get('last_celery_task_cleanup')
+        assert isinstance(last_cleanup, datetime)
 
-    TaskManager().cleanup_inconsistent_celery_tasks()
-    assert cache.get('last_celery_task_cleanup') == last_cleanup
+        TaskManager().cleanup_inconsistent_celery_tasks()
+        assert cache.get('last_celery_task_cleanup') == last_cleanup
 
 
 class TestReaper():
@@ -326,7 +327,8 @@ class TestReaper():
     @pytest.mark.django_db
     @mock.patch.object(JobNotificationMixin, 'send_notification_templates')
     @mock.patch.object(TaskManager, 'get_active_tasks', lambda self: ([], []))
-    def test_cleanup_inconsistent_task(self, notify, active_tasks, considered_jobs, reapable_jobs, running_tasks, waiting_tasks, mocker):
+    def test_cleanup_inconsistent_task(self, notify, active_tasks, considered_jobs, reapable_jobs, running_tasks, waiting_tasks, mocker, settings):
+        settings.AWX_INCONSISTENT_TASK_INTERVAL = 0
         tm = TaskManager()
 
         tm.get_running_tasks = mocker.Mock(return_value=(running_tasks, waiting_tasks))
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/test_env.py b/awx/main/tests/test_env.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..135c90d99b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/awx/main/tests/test_env.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+
+# Ensure that our autouse overwrites are working
+def test_cache(settings):
+    assert settings.CACHES['default']['BACKEND'] == 'django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache'
+    assert settings.CACHES['default']['LOCATION'].startswith('unique-')
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/unit/models/test_survey_models.py b/awx/main/tests/unit/models/test_survey_models.py
index 330014d481..3bc06edc87 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/unit/models/test_survey_models.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/unit/models/test_survey_models.py
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ def test_optional_survey_question_defaults(
     ('password', 'foo', 5, {'extra_vars': {'x': ''}}, {'x': ''}),
     ('password', ENCRYPTED_SECRET, 5, {'extra_vars': {'x': '$encrypted$'}}, {}),
     ('password', ENCRYPTED_SECRET, 10, {'extra_vars': {'x': '$encrypted$'}}, {'x': ENCRYPTED_SECRET}),
-    ], ids=DistinctParametrize())
+], ids=DistinctParametrize())
 def test_survey_encryption_defaults(survey_spec_factory, question_type, default, maxlen, kwargs, expected):
     spec = survey_spec_factory([
         {
diff --git a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_common.py b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_common.py
index fa4a038037..bb98b18bec 100644
--- a/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_common.py
+++ b/awx/main/tests/unit/utils/test_common.py
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ import pytest
 from uuid import uuid4
 import json
 import yaml
+import mock
 
 from backports.tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.core.cache import cache
 
 from rest_framework.exceptions import ParseError
 
@@ -26,14 +26,6 @@ from awx.main.models import (
 )
 
 
-@pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
-def clear_cache():
-    '''
-    Clear cache (local memory) for each test to prevent using cached settings.
-    '''
-    cache.clear()
-
-
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('input_, output', [
     ({"foo": "bar"}, {"foo": "bar"}),
     ('{"foo": "bar"}', {"foo": "bar"}),
@@ -114,46 +106,48 @@ def test_get_type_for_model(model, name):
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def memoized_function(mocker):
-    @common.memoize(track_function=True)
-    def myfunction(key, value):
-        if key not in myfunction.calls:
-            myfunction.calls[key] = 0
+def memoized_function(mocker, mock_cache):
+    with mock.patch('awx.main.utils.common.get_memoize_cache', return_value=mock_cache):
+        @common.memoize(track_function=True)
+        def myfunction(key, value):
+            if key not in myfunction.calls:
+                myfunction.calls[key] = 0
 
-        myfunction.calls[key] += 1
+            myfunction.calls[key] += 1
 
-        if myfunction.calls[key] == 1:
-            return value
-        else:
-            return '%s called %s times' % (value, myfunction.calls[key])
-    myfunction.calls = dict()
-    return myfunction
+            if myfunction.calls[key] == 1:
+                return value
+            else:
+                return '%s called %s times' % (value, myfunction.calls[key])
+        myfunction.calls = dict()
+        return myfunction
 
 
-def test_memoize_track_function(memoized_function):
+def test_memoize_track_function(memoized_function, mock_cache):
     assert memoized_function('scott', 'scotterson') == 'scotterson'
-    assert cache.get('myfunction') == {u'scott-scotterson': 'scotterson'}
+    assert mock_cache.get('myfunction') == {u'scott-scotterson': 'scotterson'}
     assert memoized_function('scott', 'scotterson') == 'scotterson'
 
     assert memoized_function.calls['scott'] == 1
 
     assert memoized_function('john', 'smith') == 'smith'
-    assert cache.get('myfunction') == {u'scott-scotterson': 'scotterson', u'john-smith': 'smith'}
+    assert mock_cache.get('myfunction') == {u'scott-scotterson': 'scotterson', u'john-smith': 'smith'}
     assert memoized_function('john', 'smith') == 'smith'
-    
+
     assert memoized_function.calls['john'] == 1
 
 
-def test_memoize_delete(memoized_function):
+def test_memoize_delete(memoized_function, mock_cache):
     assert memoized_function('john', 'smith') == 'smith'
     assert memoized_function('john', 'smith') == 'smith'
     assert memoized_function.calls['john'] == 1
 
-    assert cache.get('myfunction') == {u'john-smith': 'smith'}
+    assert mock_cache.get('myfunction') == {u'john-smith': 'smith'}
 
-    common.memoize_delete('myfunction')
+    with mock.patch('awx.main.utils.common.memoize_delete', side_effect=mock_cache.delete):
+        common.memoize_delete('myfunction')
 
-    assert cache.get('myfunction') is None
+    assert mock_cache.get('myfunction') is None
 
     assert memoized_function('john', 'smith') == 'smith called 2 times'
     assert memoized_function.calls['john'] == 2
diff --git a/awx/main/utils/common.py b/awx/main/utils/common.py
index a024e7d649..c9914cd1c3 100644
--- a/awx/main/utils/common.py
+++ b/awx/main/utils/common.py
@@ -127,12 +127,16 @@ class IllegalArgumentError(ValueError):
     pass
 
 
+def get_memoize_cache():
+    from django.core.cache import cache
+    return cache
+
+
 def memoize(ttl=60, cache_key=None, track_function=False):
     '''
     Decorator to wrap a function and cache its result.
     '''
-    from django.core.cache import cache
-
+    cache = get_memoize_cache()
 
     def _memoizer(f, *args, **kwargs):
         if cache_key and track_function:
@@ -160,8 +164,7 @@ def memoize(ttl=60, cache_key=None, track_function=False):
 
 
 def memoize_delete(function_name):
-    from django.core.cache import cache
-
+    cache = get_memoize_cache()
     return cache.delete(function_name)
 
 
diff --git a/awx/settings/defaults.py b/awx/settings/defaults.py
index 66e9c3ee9a..978cbf05c0 100644
--- a/awx/settings/defaults.py
+++ b/awx/settings/defaults.py
@@ -537,19 +537,12 @@ ASGI_AMQP = {
 }
 
 # Django Caching Configuration
-if is_testing():
-    CACHES = {
-        'default': {
-            'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache',
-        },
-    }
-else:
-    CACHES = {
-        'default': {
-            'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.memcached.MemcachedCache',
-            'LOCATION': 'memcached:11211',
-        },
-    }
+CACHES = {
+    'default': {
+        'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.memcached.MemcachedCache',
+        'LOCATION': 'memcached:11211',
+    },
+}
 
 # Social Auth configuration.
 SOCIAL_AUTH_STRATEGY = 'social_django.strategy.DjangoStrategy'
diff --git a/awx/settings/development.py b/awx/settings/development.py
index e7dc0152f6..4a2bd1aa8d 100644
--- a/awx/settings/development.py
+++ b/awx/settings/development.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import socket
 import copy
 import sys
 import traceback
+import random
 
 # Centos-7 doesn't include the svg mime type
 # /usr/lib64/python/mimetypes.py
@@ -20,6 +21,15 @@ from split_settings.tools import optional, include
 # Load default settings.
 from defaults import *  # NOQA
 
+# don't use memcache when running tests
+if "pytest" in sys.modules:
+    CACHES = {
+        'default': {
+            'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache',
+            'LOCATION': 'unique-{}'.format(random.randint(0, sys.maxint)),
+        },
+    }
+
 # awx-manage shell_plus --notebook
 NOTEBOOK_ARGUMENTS = [
     '--NotebookApp.token=',
diff --git a/awx/sso/tests/test_env.py b/awx/sso/tests/test_env.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..135c90d99b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/awx/sso/tests/test_env.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+
+
+# Ensure that our autouse overwrites are working
+def test_cache(settings):
+    assert settings.CACHES['default']['BACKEND'] == 'django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache'
+    assert settings.CACHES['default']['LOCATION'].startswith('unique-')