diff --git a/smoketests/__init__.py b/smoketests/__init__.py
index 71e8cf46576..a912e262eef 100644
--- a/smoketests/__init__.py
+++ b/smoketests/__init__.py
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 exe_suffix = ".exe" if sys.platform == "win32" else ""
 SPACETIME_BIN = STDB_DIR / ("target/debug/spacetime" + exe_suffix)
 TEMPLATE_TARGET_DIR = STDB_DIR / "target/_stdbsmoketests"
-STDB_CONFIG = TEST_DIR / "config.toml"
+BASE_STDB_CONFIG_PATH = TEST_DIR / "config.toml"
 
 # the contents of files for the base smoketest project template
 TEMPLATE_LIB_RS = open(STDB_DIR / "crates/cli/templates/basic-rust/server/src/lib.rs").read()
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@
 # default value can be overridden by `--compose-file` flag
 COMPOSE_FILE = "./docker-compose.yml"
 
+# this will be initialized by main()
+STDB_CONFIG = ''
+
 # we need to late-bind the output stream to allow unittests to capture stdout/stderr.
 class CapturableHandler(logging.StreamHandler):
 
@@ -234,7 +237,6 @@ def log_records(self, n):
         return list(map(json.loads, logs.splitlines()))
 
     def publish_module(self, domain=None, *, clear=True, capture_stderr=True, num_replicas=None, break_clients=False):
-        print("publishing module", self.publish_module)
         publish_output = self.spacetime(
             "publish",
             *[domain] if domain is not None else [],
@@ -253,7 +255,9 @@ def publish_module(self, domain=None, *, clear=True, capture_stderr=True, num_re
 
     @classmethod
     def reset_config(cls):
-        shutil.copy(STDB_CONFIG, cls.config_path)
+        if not STDB_CONFIG:
+            raise Exception("config toml has not been initialized yet")
+        cls.config_path.write_text(STDB_CONFIG)
 
     def fingerprint(self):
         # Fetch the server's fingerprint; required for `identity list`.
diff --git a/smoketests/__main__.py b/smoketests/__main__.py
index 54f6897c420..6161dc5a7aa 100644
--- a/smoketests/__main__.py
+++ b/smoketests/__main__.py
@@ -7,11 +7,14 @@
 import re
 import fnmatch
 import json
-from . import TEST_DIR, SPACETIME_BIN, exe_suffix, build_template_target
+from . import TEST_DIR, SPACETIME_BIN, BASE_STDB_CONFIG_PATH, exe_suffix, build_template_target
 import smoketests
 import sys
 import logging
 import itertools
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+import shutil
 
 def check_docker():
     docker_ps = smoketests.run_cmd("docker", "ps", "--format=json")
@@ -93,13 +96,10 @@ def main():
         try:
             os.symlink(update_bin_name, SPACETIME_BIN)
         except OSError:
-            import shutil
             shutil.copyfile(SPACETIME_BIN.with_name(update_bin_name), SPACETIME_BIN)
 
     os.environ["SPACETIME_SKIP_CLIPPY"] = "1"
 
-    build_template_target()
-
     if args.docker:
         # have docker logs print concurrently with the test output
         if args.compose_file:
@@ -112,16 +112,24 @@ def main():
                 subprocess.Popen(["docker", "logs", "-f", docker_container])
         smoketests.HAVE_DOCKER = True
 
-    if args.remote_server is not None:
-        smoketests.spacetime("--config-path", TEST_DIR / 'config.toml', "server", "edit", "localhost", "--url", args.remote_server, "--yes")
-        smoketests.REMOTE_SERVER = True
+    with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode="w+b", suffix=".toml", buffering=0, delete_on_close=False) as config_file:
+        with BASE_STDB_CONFIG_PATH.open("rb") as src, config_file.file as dst:
+            shutil.copyfileobj(src, dst)
 
-    if args.spacetime_login:
-        smoketests.spacetime("--config-path", TEST_DIR / 'config.toml', "logout")
-        smoketests.spacetime("--config-path", TEST_DIR / 'config.toml', "login")
-        smoketests.USE_SPACETIME_LOGIN = True
-    else:
-        smoketests.new_identity(TEST_DIR / 'config.toml')
+        if args.remote_server is not None:
+            smoketests.spacetime("--config-path", config_file.name, "server", "edit", "localhost", "--url", args.remote_server, "--yes")
+            smoketests.REMOTE_SERVER = True
+
+        if args.spacetime_login:
+            smoketests.spacetime("--config-path", config_file.name, "logout")
+            smoketests.spacetime("--config-path", config_file.name, "login")
+            smoketests.USE_SPACETIME_LOGIN = True
+        else:
+            smoketests.new_identity(config_file.name)
+
+        smoketests.STDB_CONFIG = Path(config_file.name).read_text()
+
+    build_template_target()
 
     if not args.skip_dotnet:
         smoketests.HAVE_DOTNET = check_dotnet()
diff --git a/smoketests/config.toml b/smoketests/config.toml
index 3bc097d0d79..9ddb25aaef5 100644
--- a/smoketests/config.toml
+++ b/smoketests/config.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 default_server = "localhost"
-spacetimedb_token = "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJFUzI1NiJ9.eyJoZXhfaWRlbnRpdHkiOiJjMjAwMTU3NGEwMjgyNDRjNzZhNTE1MjU1NGMzY2ZjMWJiNmIzNzZlNjY4YmU1Yjg2MzE0MDAyYWRmOTMyYWVlIiwic3ViIjoiYzYwOWJkYjUtMDAyNS00YzZkLWIyZTktOGYyODEwM2IzNWUzIiwiaXNzIjoibG9jYWxob3N0IiwiYXVkIjpbInNwYWNldGltZWRiIl0sImlhdCI6MTc1NjkwOTQ3NywiZXhwIjpudWxsfQ.t6Aobx9fTe6kwvq7H01-2RO7vdK4SjQB7Uw-Lh4Daz0lG43WzIw3oVG_65txqlsFSkpx40wYElByj4jMolutpA"
 
 [[server_configs]]
 nickname = "localhost"
diff --git a/smoketests/tests/replication.py b/smoketests/tests/replication.py
index 5fd1e24a03b..d23224800fc 100644
--- a/smoketests/tests/replication.py
+++ b/smoketests/tests/replication.py
@@ -226,20 +226,17 @@ def setUpClass(cls):
         super().setUpClass()
         cls.root_config = cls.project_path / "root_config"
 
-    def tearDown(self):
-        # Ensure containers that were brought down during a test are back up.
-        self.docker.compose("up", "-d")
-        super().tearDown()
-
-    # TODO: This function seems to run even when `--docker` is not passed, leading to errors unless `-x replication` is passed, due to the docker-related code below.
-    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-
+    def setUp(self):
         self.docker = DockerManager(COMPOSE_FILE)
         self.root_token = self.docker.generate_root_token()
 
         self.cluster = Cluster(self.docker, self)
 
+    def tearDown(self):
+        # Ensure containers that were brought down during a test are back up.
+        self.docker.compose("up", "-d")
+        super().tearDown()
+
     def add_me_as_admin(self):
         """Add the current user as an admin account"""
         db_owner_id = str(self.spacetime("login", "show")).split()[-1]
diff --git a/smoketests/tests/template b/smoketests/tests/template
deleted file mode 100644
index c773961e631..00000000000
--- a/smoketests/tests/template
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-if [ "$DESCRIBE_TEST" = 1 ] ; then
-	echo "NO DESCRIPTION FOR THIS TEST!"
-        exit
-fi
-
-set -euox pipefail
-
-source "./test/lib.include"
-
-run_test cargo run identity new --no-domain
-IDENT=$(grep IDENTITY "$TEST_OUT" | awk '{print $2}')
-EMAIL="$(random_string)@clockworklabs.io"
-TOKEN=$(grep token "$HOME/.spacetime/config.toml" | awk '{print $3}' | tr -d \')
-
-reset_config
-
-run_test cargo run identity add "$IDENT" "$TOKEN"
-run_test cargo run identity set-default "$IDENT"
-[ "$IDENT" == "$(grep IDENTITY "$TEST_OUT" | awk '{print $2}')" ]
-
-reset_config
-
-run_test cargo run identity new --no-domain
-
-run_test cargo run publish
-ADDRESS="$(grep "reated new database" "$TEST_OUT" | awk 'NF>1{print $NF}')"