diff --git a/common/models/acl.js b/common/models/acl.js
index d4823cec..6bde460c 100644
--- a/common/models/acl.js
+++ b/common/models/acl.js
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ module.exports = function(ACL) {
    * @return {Object[]} An array of ACLs
    */
   ACL.getStaticACLs = function getStaticACLs(model, property) {
-    var modelClass = loopback.findModel(model);
+    var modelClass = this.registry.findModel(model);
     var staticACLs = [];
     if (modelClass && modelClass.settings.acls) {
       modelClass.settings.acls.forEach(function(acl) {
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ module.exports = function(ACL) {
         acls = acls.concat(dynACLs);
         resolved = self.resolvePermission(acls, req);
         if (resolved && resolved.permission === ACL.DEFAULT) {
-          var modelClass = loopback.findModel(model);
+          var modelClass = self.registry.findModel(model);
           resolved.permission = (modelClass && modelClass.settings.defaultPermission) || ACL.ALLOW;
         }
         if (callback) callback(null, resolved);
diff --git a/common/models/change.js b/common/models/change.js
index 605caa23..ad19a754 100644
--- a/common/models/change.js
+++ b/common/models/change.js
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ module.exports = function(Change) {
    */
 
   Change.findOrCreateChange = function(modelName, modelId, callback) {
-    assert(loopback.findModel(modelName), modelName + ' does not exist');
+    assert(this.registry.findModel(modelName), modelName + ' does not exist');
     callback = callback || utils.createPromiseCallback();
     var id = this.idForModel(modelName, modelId);
     var Change = this;
diff --git a/test/access-token.test.js b/test/access-token.test.js
index 4b6ebc5d..c0b9a436 100644
--- a/test/access-token.test.js
+++ b/test/access-token.test.js
@@ -397,6 +397,9 @@ describe('AccessToken', function() {
 });
 
 describe('app.enableAuth()', function() {
+  beforeEach(function setupAuthWithModels() {
+    app.enableAuth({ dataSource: ds });
+  });
   beforeEach(createTestingToken);
 
   it('prevents remote call with 401 status on denied ACL', function(done) {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/access-control/server/model-config.json b/test/fixtures/access-control/server/model-config.json
index 2a48ed23..ddb886fc 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/access-control/server/model-config.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/access-control/server/model-config.json
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
   "_meta": {
     "sources": [
       "../common/models",
-      "./models"
+      "./models",
+      "../../../../common/models"
     ]
   },
   "ACL": {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/access-control/server/server.js b/test/fixtures/access-control/server/server.js
index 13c2b910..ba596a36 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/access-control/server/server.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/access-control/server/server.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 var loopback = require('../../../..');
 var boot = require('loopback-boot');
-var app = module.exports = loopback();
+var app = module.exports = loopback({ localRegistry: true });
 
 boot(app, __dirname);
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/e2e/server/server.js b/test/fixtures/e2e/server/server.js
index 7fd6b745..c353834f 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/e2e/server/server.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/e2e/server/server.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 // License text available at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
 
 var loopback = require('../../../../index');
-var app = module.exports = loopback();
+var app = module.exports = loopback({ localRegistry: true });
 var models = require('./models');
 var TestModel = models.TestModel;
 
diff --git a/test/fixtures/simple-app/server/model-config.json b/test/fixtures/simple-app/server/model-config.json
index 08448d73..86602c00 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/simple-app/server/model-config.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/simple-app/server/model-config.json
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
   "_meta": {
     "sources": [
       "../common/models",
-      "./models"
+      "./models",
+      "../../../../common/models"
     ]
   },
   "User": {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/model-config.json b/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/model-config.json
index f5d34f28..ed73e7ca 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/model-config.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/model-config.json
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
   "_meta": {
     "sources": [
       "../common/models",
-      "./models"
+      "./models",
+      "../../../../common/models"
     ]
   },
   "ACL": {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/server.js b/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/server.js
index 7c92b9c2..95bc8961 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/server.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/simple-integration-app/server/server.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 var loopback = require('../../../../index');
 var boot = require('loopback-boot');
-var app = module.exports = loopback();
+var app = module.exports = loopback({ localRegistry: true });
 
 boot(app, __dirname);
 var apiPath = '/api';
diff --git a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/common/models/post.json b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/common/models/post.json
index e6990891..dd6d41f4 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/common/models/post.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/common/models/post.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "name": "post",
+  "name": "Post",
   "base": "PersistedModel",
   "properties": {
     "title": {
@@ -18,4 +18,4 @@
       "model": "User"
     }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/datasources.json b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/datasources.json
index b024f6f3..9ebcf84f 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/datasources.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/datasources.json
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@
       {"type": "STUB"}
     ]
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/model-config.json b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/model-config.json
index b8181828..172ba6f8 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/model-config.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/model-config.json
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
   "_meta": {
     "sources": [
       "../common/models",
-      "./models"
+      "./models",
+      "../../../../common/models"
     ]
   },
   "Email": {
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@
     "public": true,
     "relations": {
       "posts": {
-        "model": "post",
+        "model": "Post",
         "type": "hasMany",
         "foreignKey": "userId"
       }
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@
     "dataSource": "db",
     "public": true
   },
-  "post": {
+  "Post": {
     "dataSource": "db",
     "public": true
   }
diff --git a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/server.js b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/server.js
index bbcb7fcc..bfd7e1af 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/server.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/user-integration-app/server/server.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 var loopback = require('../../../../index');
 var boot = require('loopback-boot');
-var app = module.exports = loopback();
+var app = module.exports = loopback({ localRegistry: true });
 app.enableAuth();
 boot(app, __dirname);
 app.use(loopback.token({model: app.models.AccessToken}));
diff --git a/test/model.test.js b/test/model.test.js
index a0269001..27e89ca5 100644
--- a/test/model.test.js
+++ b/test/model.test.js
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ var chai = require('chai');
 var expect = chai.expect;
 var loopback = require('../');
 var ACL = loopback.ACL;
-var Change = loopback.Change;
 var defineModelTestsWithDataSource = require('./util/model-tests');
 var PersistedModel = loopback.PersistedModel;
 var sinonChai = require('sinon-chai');
@@ -80,7 +79,10 @@ describe.onServer('Remote Methods', function() {
   var app;
 
   beforeEach(function() {
-    User = PersistedModel.extend('user', {
+    app = loopback({ localRegistry: true, loadBuiltinModels: true });
+    app.set('remoting', { errorHandler: { debug: true, log: false }});
+
+    User = app.registry.createModel('user', {
       id: { id: true, type: String, defaultFn: 'guid' },
       'first': String,
       'last': String,
@@ -93,7 +95,7 @@ describe.onServer('Remote Methods', function() {
       trackChanges: true
     });
 
-    Post = PersistedModel.extend('post', {
+    Post = app.registry.createModel('post', {
       id: { id: true, type: String, defaultFn: 'guid' },
       title: String,
       content: String
@@ -101,12 +103,10 @@ describe.onServer('Remote Methods', function() {
       trackChanges: true
     });
 
-    dataSource = loopback.createDataSource({
-      connector: loopback.Memory
-    });
+    dataSource = app.dataSource('db', { connector: 'memory' });
 
-    User.attachTo(dataSource);
-    Post.attachTo(dataSource);
+    app.model(User, { dataSource: 'db' });
+    app.model(Post, { dataSource: 'db' });
 
     User.hasMany(Post);
 
@@ -118,21 +118,16 @@ describe.onServer('Remote Methods', function() {
       }
     };
 
-    loopback.remoteMethod(
-      User.login,
-      {
-        accepts: [
-          {arg: 'username', type: 'string', required: true},
-          {arg: 'password', type: 'string', required: true}
-        ],
-        returns: {arg: 'sessionId', type: 'any', root: true},
-        http: {path: '/sign-in', verb: 'get'}
-      }
-    );
+    User.remoteMethod('login', {
+      accepts: [
+        { arg: 'username', type: 'string', required: true },
+        { arg: 'password', type: 'string', required: true },
+      ],
+      returns: { arg: 'sessionId', type: 'any', root: true },
+      http: { path: '/sign-in', verb: 'get' },
+    });
 
-    app = loopback();
     app.use(loopback.rest());
-    app.model(User);
   });
 
   describe('Model.destroyAll(callback)', function() {
@@ -556,7 +551,7 @@ describe.onServer('Remote Methods', function() {
     it('Get the Change Model', function() {
       var UserChange = User.getChangeModel();
       var change = new UserChange();
-      assert(change instanceof Change);
+      assert(change instanceof app.registry.getModel('Change'));
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/test/user.integration.js b/test/user.integration.js
index 753df249..46f597c5 100644
--- a/test/user.integration.js
+++ b/test/user.integration.js
@@ -22,16 +22,10 @@ describe('users - integration', function() {
   lt.beforeEach.withApp(app);
 
   before(function(done) {
-    // HACK: [rfeng] We have to reset the relations as they are polluted by
-    // other tests
-    app.models.User.hasMany(app.models.post);
-    app.models.User.hasMany(app.models.AccessToken,
-      {options: {disableInclude: true}});
-    app.models.AccessToken.belongsTo(app.models.User);
     app.models.User.destroyAll(function(err) {
       if (err) return done(err);
 
-      app.models.post.destroyAll(function(err) {
+      app.models.Post.destroyAll(function(err) {
         if (err) return done(err);
 
         app.models.blog.destroyAll(function(err) {