diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
index d742ca1cc9..95e636c9b4 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/environment.ts
@@ -44,8 +44,9 @@ const environment = {
   GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID,
   GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET,
   SALT_ROUNDS: process.env.SALT_ROUNDS,
-  REDIS_URL: process.env.REDIS_URL,
-  REDIS_PASSWORD: process.env.REDIS_PASSWORD,
+  REDIS_URL: process.env.REDIS_URL || "localhost:6379",
+  REDIS_PASSWORD: process.env.REDIS_PASSWORD || "budibase",
+  MOCK_REDIS: process.env.MOCK_REDIS,
   MINIO_ACCESS_KEY: process.env.MINIO_ACCESS_KEY,
   MINIO_SECRET_KEY: process.env.MINIO_SECRET_KEY,
   AWS_REGION: process.env.AWS_REGION,
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
index b34d46e463..8e1fc1fbf3 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/queue/queue.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import { JobQueue } from "./constants"
 import InMemoryQueue from "./inMemoryQueue"
 import BullQueue from "bull"
 import { addListeners, StalledFn } from "./listeners"
-const { opts: redisOpts, redisProtocolUrl } = getRedisOptions()
 
 const CLEANUP_PERIOD_MS = 60 * 1000
 let QUEUES: BullQueue.Queue[] | InMemoryQueue[] = []
@@ -20,6 +19,7 @@ export function createQueue<T>(
   jobQueue: JobQueue,
   opts: { removeStalledCb?: StalledFn } = {}
 ): BullQueue.Queue<T> {
+  const { opts: redisOpts, redisProtocolUrl } = getRedisOptions()
   const queueConfig: any = redisProtocolUrl || { redis: redisOpts }
   let queue: any
   if (!env.isTest()) {
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/redis/redis.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/redis/redis.ts
index 0267709cdc..2669cd816a 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/redis/redis.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/redis/redis.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import env from "../environment"
 // ioredis mock is all in memory
-const Redis = env.isTest() ? require("ioredis-mock") : require("ioredis")
+const Redis = env.MOCK_REDIS ? require("ioredis-mock") : require("ioredis")
 import {
   addDbPrefix,
   removeDbPrefix,
@@ -17,8 +17,13 @@ const DEFAULT_SELECT_DB = SelectableDatabase.DEFAULT
 // for testing just generate the client once
 let CLOSED = false
 let CLIENTS: { [key: number]: any } = {}
-// if in test always connected
-let CONNECTED = env.isTest()
+
+let CONNECTED = false
+
+// mock redis always connected
+if (env.MOCK_REDIS) {
+  CONNECTED = true
+}
 
 function pickClient(selectDb: number): any {
   return CLIENTS[selectDb]
@@ -57,7 +62,7 @@ function init(selectDb = DEFAULT_SELECT_DB) {
     return
   }
   // testing uses a single in memory client
-  if (env.isTest()) {
+  if (env.MOCK_REDIS) {
     CLIENTS[selectDb] = new Redis(getRedisOptions())
   }
   // start the timer - only allowed 5 seconds to connect
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/redis/utils.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/redis/utils.ts
index 4c556ebd54..7606c77b87 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/redis/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/redis/utils.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@ import env from "../environment"
 
 const SLOT_REFRESH_MS = 2000
 const CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MS = 10000
-const REDIS_URL = !env.REDIS_URL ? "localhost:6379" : env.REDIS_URL
-const REDIS_PASSWORD = !env.REDIS_PASSWORD ? "budibase" : env.REDIS_PASSWORD
 export const SEPARATOR = "-"
 
 /**
@@ -60,8 +58,8 @@ export enum SelectableDatabase {
 }
 
 export function getRedisOptions(clustered = false) {
-  let password = REDIS_PASSWORD
-  let url: string[] | string = REDIS_URL.split("//")
+  let password = env.REDIS_PASSWORD
+  let url: string[] | string = env.REDIS_URL.split("//")
   // get rid of the protocol
   url = url.length > 1 ? url[1] : url[0]
   // check for a password etc
@@ -78,8 +76,8 @@ export function getRedisOptions(clustered = false) {
   let redisProtocolUrl
 
   // fully qualified redis URL
-  if (/rediss?:\/\//.test(REDIS_URL)) {
-    redisProtocolUrl = REDIS_URL
+  if (/rediss?:\/\//.test(env.REDIS_URL)) {
+    redisProtocolUrl = env.REDIS_URL
   }
 
   const opts: any = {
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/tests/utilities/testContainerUtils.ts b/packages/backend-core/tests/utilities/testContainerUtils.ts
index 22198bd496..11c5fca806 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/tests/utilities/testContainerUtils.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/tests/utilities/testContainerUtils.ts
@@ -34,12 +34,17 @@ function getMinioConfig() {
   return getContainerInfo("minio-service", 9000)
 }
 
+function getRedisConfig() {
+  return getContainerInfo("redis-service", 6379)
+}
+
 export function setupEnv(...envs: any[]) {
   const configs = [
     { key: "COUCH_DB_PORT", value: getCouchConfig().port },
     { key: "COUCH_DB_URL", value: getCouchConfig().url },
     { key: "MINIO_PORT", value: getMinioConfig().port },
     { key: "MINIO_URL", value: getMinioConfig().url },
+    { key: "REDIS_URL", value: getRedisConfig().url },
   ]
 
   for (const config of configs.filter(x => !!x.value)) {