diff --git a/lib/binding.js b/lib/binding.js
index 03677f7b..e12f691b 100644
--- a/lib/binding.js
+++ b/lib/binding.js
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ p._pulseQueryQueue = function() {
 }
 
 var ctor = function(config) {
+  console.log('creating native client');
   var connection = new Connection();
   connection._queryQueue = [];
   connection._activeQuery = null;
diff --git a/test/integration/client/api-tests.js b/test/integration/client/api-tests.js
index 428b1b71..d77968a6 100644
--- a/test/integration/client/api-tests.js
+++ b/test/integration/client/api-tests.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ var sink = new helper.Sink(5, 10000, function() {
 test('api', function() {
   log("connecting to %s", connectionString)
   pg.connect(connectionString, assert.calls(function(err, client) {
-    assert.equal(err, null, "Failed to connect: " + sys.inspect(err));
+    assert.equal(err, null, "Failed to connect: " + helper.sys.inspect(err));
 
     client.query('CREATE TEMP TABLE band(name varchar(100))');
 
diff --git a/test/integration/connection/test-helper.js b/test/integration/connection/test-helper.js
index 1fa68293..3a3dd2de 100644
--- a/test/integration/connection/test-helper.js
+++ b/test/integration/connection/test-helper.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 var net = require('net');
 var helper = require(__dirname+'/../test-helper');
-
+var Connection = require('connection');
 var connect = function(callback) {
   var username = helper.args.user;
   var database = helper.args.database;
diff --git a/test/test-helper.js b/test/test-helper.js
index 381b8013..71db2ee8 100644
--- a/test/test-helper.js
+++ b/test/test-helper.js
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 require.paths.unshift(__dirname + '/../lib/');
-
-EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter;
-
-sys = require('sys');
+//make assert a global...
 assert = require('assert');
-BufferList = require(__dirname+'/buffer-list')
-buffers = require(__dirname + '/test-buffers');
-Connection = require('connection');
+
+var EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter;
+var sys = require('sys');
+var BufferList = require(__dirname+'/buffer-list')
+
+var Connection = require('connection');
 var args = require(__dirname + '/cli');
 
 if(args.libpq) {
-  Client = require('binding').Client;
+Client = require('binding').Client;
 } else {
-  Client = require('client');
+Client = require('client');
 }
 
 process.on('uncaughtException', function(d) {
@@ -210,7 +210,9 @@ module.exports = {
   pg: require('index'),
   connectionString: function() {
     return "pg"+(count++)+"://"+args.user+":"+args.password+"@"+args.host+":"+args.port+"/"+args.database;
-  }
+  },
+  sys: sys,
+  Client: Client
 };
 
 
diff --git a/test/unit/client/query-queue-tests.js b/test/unit/client/query-queue-tests.js
index 8c231523..8323dac6 100644
--- a/test/unit/client/query-queue-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/client/query-queue-tests.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 var helper = require(__dirname + '/test-helper');
+var Connection = require('connection');
 var con = new Connection({stream: "NO"});
 var client = new Client({connection:con});
 
diff --git a/test/unit/client/test-helper.js b/test/unit/client/test-helper.js
index f6ed43c6..b09bfe4e 100644
--- a/test/unit/client/test-helper.js
+++ b/test/unit/client/test-helper.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 require(__dirname+'/../test-helper');
-
+var Connection = require('connection');
 var makeClient = function() {
   var connection = new Connection({stream: "no"});
   connection.startup = function() {};
diff --git a/test/unit/connection/error-tests.js b/test/unit/connection/error-tests.js
index fb9f1b50..220320b4 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection/error-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection/error-tests.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 var helper = require(__dirname + '/test-helper');
-
+var Connection = require('connection');
 var con = new Connection({stream: new MemoryStream()});
 test("connection emits stream errors", function() {
   assert.emits(con, 'error', function(err) {
diff --git a/test/unit/connection/inbound-parser-tests.js b/test/unit/connection/inbound-parser-tests.js
index 440f8b46..970a7e21 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection/inbound-parser-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection/inbound-parser-tests.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 require(__dirname+'/test-helper');
-
+var Connection = require('connection');
+var buffers = require(__dirname + '/../../test-buffers');
 var PARSE = function(buffer) {
   return new Parser(buffer).parse();
 };
diff --git a/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js b/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js
index 7451f297..99357c24 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection/outbound-sending-tests.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require(__dirname + "/test-helper");
+var Connection = require('connection');
 var stream = new MemoryStream();
 var con = new Connection({
   stream: stream
diff --git a/test/unit/connection/startup-tests.js b/test/unit/connection/startup-tests.js
index d1603418..abdfc590 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection/startup-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection/startup-tests.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 require(__dirname+'/test-helper');
-
+var Connection = require('connection');
 test('connection can take existing stream', function() {
   var stream = new MemoryStream();
   var con = new Connection({stream: stream});
diff --git a/test/unit/test-helper.js b/test/unit/test-helper.js
index 1fa907ce..7999c540 100644
--- a/test/unit/test-helper.js
+++ b/test/unit/test-helper.js
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
-require(__dirname+'/../test-helper');
+var helper = require(__dirname+'/../test-helper');
+var EventEmitter = require('events').EventEmitter;
+var Connection = require('connection');
 MemoryStream = function() {
   EventEmitter.call(this);
   this.packets = [];
 };
 
-sys.inherits(MemoryStream, EventEmitter);
+helper.sys.inherits(MemoryStream, EventEmitter);
 
 var p = MemoryStream.prototype;