diff --git a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/extensions/filter/FilterTest.java b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/extensions/filter/FilterTest.java
index 680c7b6..c359e40 100644
--- a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/extensions/filter/FilterTest.java
+++ b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/extensions/filter/FilterTest.java
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
-import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -63,36 +62,21 @@
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdmin;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdminUsingTestBase;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerSpecific;
+import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.ConfigItem;
 
+@ConfigItem(name = "qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", value = "false", jvm = true)
 public class FilterTest extends BrokerAdminUsingTestBase
 {
     public static final String TEST_MESSAGE_CONTENT = "testContent";
     private InetSocketAddress _brokerAddress;
-    private String _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence;
 
     @Before
     public void setUp()
     {
-        _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence = System.getProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", "false");
-
         getBrokerAdmin().createQueue(BrokerAdmin.TEST_QUEUE_NAME);
         _brokerAddress = getBrokerAdmin().getBrokerAddress(BrokerAdmin.PortType.ANONYMOUS_AMQP);
     }
 
-    @After
-    public void tearDown()
-    {
-        if (_originalMmsMessageStorePersistence != null)
-        {
-            System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            System.clearProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        }
-    }
-
     @Test
     @BrokerSpecific(kind = KIND_BROKER_J)
     @SpecificationTest(section = "3.5.1", description = "A source can restrict the messages transferred from a source by specifying a filter.")
diff --git a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/MultiTransferTest.java b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/MultiTransferTest.java
index 3b421c7..a5f7e7c 100644
--- a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/MultiTransferTest.java
+++ b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/MultiTransferTest.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@
 
 import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.instanceOf;
-import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.nullValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
@@ -32,7 +31,6 @@
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
 
-import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -54,38 +52,22 @@
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.v1_0.Interaction;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.SpecificationTest;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.v1_0.Utils;
-import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.Response;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdmin;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdminUsingTestBase;
+import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.ConfigItem;
 
+@ConfigItem(name = "qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", value = "false", jvm = true)
 public class MultiTransferTest extends BrokerAdminUsingTestBase
 {
     private InetSocketAddress _brokerAddress;
-    private String _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence;
 
     @Before
     public void setUp()
     {
-        _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence = System.getProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", "false");
-
         getBrokerAdmin().createQueue(BrokerAdmin.TEST_QUEUE_NAME);
         _brokerAddress = getBrokerAdmin().getBrokerAddress(BrokerAdmin.PortType.ANONYMOUS_AMQP);
     }
 
-    @After
-    public void tearDown()
-    {
-        if (_originalMmsMessageStorePersistence != null)
-        {
-            System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            System.clearProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        }
-    }
-
     @Test
     @SpecificationTest(section = "2.6.14",
             description = "For messages that are too large to fit within the maximum frame size, additional data MAY"
diff --git a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/TransferTest.java b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/TransferTest.java
index dab344e..4ef0f28 100644
--- a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/TransferTest.java
+++ b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/messaging/TransferTest.java
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@
 import java.util.stream.Stream;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.Sets;
-import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -89,36 +88,21 @@
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdmin;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdminUsingTestBase;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerSpecific;
+import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.ConfigItem;
 
+@ConfigItem(name = "qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", value = "false", jvm = true)
 public class TransferTest extends BrokerAdminUsingTestBase
 {
     private static final long MAX_MAX_MESSAGE_SIZE_WE_ARE_WILLING_TO_TEST = 200 * 1024 * 1024L;
     private InetSocketAddress _brokerAddress;
-    private String _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence;
 
     @Before
     public void setUp()
     {
-        _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence = System.getProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", "false");
-
         getBrokerAdmin().createQueue(BrokerAdmin.TEST_QUEUE_NAME);
         _brokerAddress = getBrokerAdmin().getBrokerAddress(BrokerAdmin.PortType.ANONYMOUS_AMQP);
     }
 
-    @After
-    public void tearDown()
-    {
-        if (_originalMmsMessageStorePersistence != null)
-        {
-            System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            System.clearProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        }
-    }
-
     @Test
     @SpecificationTest(section = "1.3.4",
             description = "mandatory [...] a non null value for the field is always encoded.")
diff --git a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/transport/link/ResumeDeliveriesTest.java b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/transport/link/ResumeDeliveriesTest.java
index 61884e3..b38d30e 100644
--- a/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/transport/link/ResumeDeliveriesTest.java
+++ b/systests/protocol-tests-amqp-1-0/src/test/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/protocol/v1_0/transport/link/ResumeDeliveriesTest.java
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 
 import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
-import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -67,43 +66,28 @@
 import org.apache.qpid.server.protocol.v1_0.type.transport.Role;
 import org.apache.qpid.server.protocol.v1_0.type.transport.SenderSettleMode;
 import org.apache.qpid.server.protocol.v1_0.type.transport.Transfer;
+import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.Response;
+import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.SpecificationTest;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.v1_0.FrameTransport;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.v1_0.Interaction;
-import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.SpecificationTest;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.v1_0.Utils;
-import org.apache.qpid.tests.protocol.Response;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdmin;
 import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.BrokerAdminUsingTestBase;
+import org.apache.qpid.tests.utils.ConfigItem;
 
+@ConfigItem(name = "qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", value = "false", jvm = true)
 public class ResumeDeliveriesTest extends BrokerAdminUsingTestBase
 {
     private static final int MIN_MAX_FRAME_SIZE = 512;
     private InetSocketAddress _brokerAddress;
-    private String _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence;
 
     @Before
     public void setUp()
     {
-        _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence = System.getProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", "false");
-
         getBrokerAdmin().createQueue(BrokerAdmin.TEST_QUEUE_NAME);
         _brokerAddress = getBrokerAdmin().getBrokerAddress(BrokerAdmin.PortType.ANONYMOUS_AMQP);
     }
 
-    @After
-    public void tearDown()
-    {
-        if (_originalMmsMessageStorePersistence != null)
-        {
-            System.setProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence", _originalMmsMessageStorePersistence);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            System.clearProperty("qpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence");
-        }
-    }
-
     @Ignore("QPID-7845")
     @Test
     @SpecificationTest(section = "2.6.13",
diff --git a/systests/qpid-systests-spawn-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/systests/admin/SpawnBrokerAdmin.java b/systests/qpid-systests-spawn-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/systests/admin/SpawnBrokerAdmin.java
index 9f8ed5e..0ce90ac 100644
--- a/systests/qpid-systests-spawn-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/systests/admin/SpawnBrokerAdmin.java
+++ b/systests/qpid-systests-spawn-admin/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/systests/admin/SpawnBrokerAdmin.java
@@ -742,6 +742,8 @@
             classpath = new String(Files.readAllBytes(file.toPath()), UTF_8);
         }
 
+        final ConfigItem[] configItems = (ConfigItem[]) testClass.getAnnotationsByType(ConfigItem.class);
+
         List<String> jvmArguments = new ArrayList<>();
         jvmArguments.add("java");
         jvmArguments.add("-cp");
@@ -749,6 +751,10 @@
         jvmArguments.add("-Djava.io.tmpdir=" + escape(System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir")));
         jvmArguments.add("-Dlogback.configurationFile=default-broker-logback.xml");
         jvmArguments.add("-Dqpid.tests.mms.messagestore.persistence=true");
+        jvmArguments.addAll(Arrays.stream(configItems)
+                                  .filter(ConfigItem::jvm)
+                                  .map(ci -> String.format("-D%s=%s", ci.name(), ci.value()))
+                                  .collect(Collectors.toList()));
         jvmArguments.add("org.apache.qpid.server.Main");
         jvmArguments.add("--store-type");
         jvmArguments.add("JSON");
@@ -766,7 +772,8 @@
               .filter(n -> n.startsWith("qpid."))
               .forEach(n -> context.put(n, System.getProperty(n)));
 
-        context.putAll(Arrays.stream((ConfigItem[]) testClass.getAnnotationsByType(ConfigItem.class))
+        context.putAll(Arrays.stream(configItems)
+                             .filter(i -> !i.jvm())
                              .collect(Collectors.toMap(ConfigItem::name,
                                                        ConfigItem::value,
                                                        (name, value) -> value)));
diff --git a/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/ConfigItem.java b/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/ConfigItem.java
index 493f865..a57e747 100644
--- a/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/ConfigItem.java
+++ b/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/ConfigItem.java
@@ -33,4 +33,5 @@
 {
     String name();
     String value();
+    boolean jvm() default false;
 }
diff --git a/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/EmbeddedBrokerPerClassAdminImpl.java b/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/EmbeddedBrokerPerClassAdminImpl.java
index f51c970..59cf731 100644
--- a/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/EmbeddedBrokerPerClassAdminImpl.java
+++ b/systests/systests-utils/src/main/java/org/apache/qpid/tests/utils/EmbeddedBrokerPerClassAdminImpl.java
@@ -77,26 +77,32 @@
     private VirtualHostNode<?> _currentVirtualHostNode;
     private String _currentWorkDirectory;
     private boolean _isPersistentStore;
-    private Map<String, String> _preservedContext;
+    private Map<String, String> _preservedProperties;
 
     @Override
     public void beforeTestClass(final Class testClass)
     {
+        _preservedProperties = new HashMap<>();
         try
         {
             String timestamp = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMddHHmmss").format(new Date(System.currentTimeMillis()));
             _currentWorkDirectory = Files.createTempDirectory(String.format("qpid-work-%s-%s-", timestamp, testClass.getSimpleName())).toString();
 
+            ConfigItem[] configItems = (ConfigItem[]) testClass.getAnnotationsByType(ConfigItem.class);
+            Arrays.stream(configItems).filter(ConfigItem::jvm).forEach(i -> {
+                _preservedProperties.put(i.name(), System.getProperty(i.name()));
+                System.setProperty(i.name(), i.value());
+            });
             Map<String, String> context = new HashMap<>();
             context.put("qpid.work_dir", _currentWorkDirectory);
             context.put("qpid.port.protocol_handshake_timeout", "1000000");
-            context.putAll(Arrays.stream((ConfigItem[]) testClass.getAnnotationsByType(ConfigItem.class))
+            context.putAll(Arrays.stream(configItems)
+                                 .filter(i -> !i.jvm())
                                  .collect(Collectors.toMap(ConfigItem::name,
                                                            ConfigItem::value,
                                                            (name, value) -> value)));
 
             Map<String,Object> systemConfigAttributes = new HashMap<>();
-            //systemConfigAttributes.put(SystemConfig.INITIAL_CONFIGURATION_LOCATION, "classpath:config-protocol-tests.json");
             systemConfigAttributes.put(ConfiguredObject.CONTEXT, context);
             systemConfigAttributes.put(ConfiguredObject.TYPE, System.getProperty("broker.config-store-type", "JSON"));
             systemConfigAttributes.put(SystemConfig.STARTUP_LOGGED_TO_SYSTEM_OUT, Boolean.FALSE);
@@ -187,6 +193,17 @@
         {
             FileUtils.delete(new File(_currentWorkDirectory), true);
         }
+
+        _preservedProperties.forEach((k,v)-> {
+            if (v == null)
+            {
+                System.clearProperty(k);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                System.setProperty(k, v);
+            }
+        });
     }
 
     @Override