diff --git a/django/contrib/admin/tests.py b/django/contrib/admin/tests.py
index badf45b580..25ea230b28 100644
--- a/django/contrib/admin/tests.py
+++ b/django/contrib/admin/tests.py
@@ -5,7 +5,16 @@ from django.utils.module_loading import import_by_path
 from django.utils.unittest import SkipTest
 from django.utils.translation import ugettext as _
 
+
 class AdminSeleniumWebDriverTestCase(LiveServerTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = [
+        'django.contrib.admin',
+        'django.contrib.auth',
+        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+        'django.contrib.sessions',
+        'django.contrib.sites',
+    ]
     webdriver_class = 'selenium.webdriver.firefox.webdriver.WebDriver'
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_handlers.py b/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_handlers.py
index e0d2fa2200..b3737172a3 100644
--- a/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_handlers.py
+++ b/django/contrib/auth/tests/test_handlers.py
@@ -8,10 +8,18 @@ from django.test import TransactionTestCase
 from django.test.utils import override_settings
 
 
+# This must be a TransactionTestCase because the WSGI auth handler performs
+# its own transaction management.
 class ModWsgiHandlerTestCase(TransactionTestCase):
     """
     Tests for the mod_wsgi authentication handler
     """
+
+    available_apps = [
+        'django.contrib.auth',
+        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+    ]
+
     @skipIfCustomUser
     def test_check_password(self):
         """
diff --git a/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py b/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
index df8a8becf6..2f399acb23 100644
--- a/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
+++ b/tests/admin_scripts/tests.py
@@ -1474,6 +1474,13 @@ class ArgumentOrder(AdminScriptTestCase):
 
 class StartProject(LiveServerTestCase, AdminScriptTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = [
+        'admin_scripts',
+        'django.contrib.auth',
+        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+        'django.contrib.sessions',
+    ]
+
     def test_wrong_args(self):
         "Make sure passing the wrong kinds of arguments raises a CommandError"
         out, err = self.run_django_admin(['startproject'])
diff --git a/tests/backends/tests.py b/tests/backends/tests.py
index 08cae0f7c3..b6e3e9e36f 100644
--- a/tests/backends/tests.py
+++ b/tests/backends/tests.py
@@ -345,6 +345,8 @@ class PostgresNewConnectionTest(TestCase):
 # connection would implicitly rollback and cause problems during teardown.
 class ConnectionCreatedSignalTest(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = []
+
     # Unfortunately with sqlite3 the in-memory test database cannot be closed,
     # and so it cannot be re-opened during testing.
     @skipUnlessDBFeature('test_db_allows_multiple_connections')
@@ -514,6 +516,8 @@ class BackendTestCase(TestCase):
 # verify if its type is django.database.db.IntegrityError.
 class FkConstraintsTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = ['backends']
+
     def setUp(self):
         # Create a Reporter.
         self.r = models.Reporter.objects.create(first_name='John', last_name='Smith')
@@ -777,6 +781,9 @@ class MySQLPKZeroTests(TestCase):
 
 
 class DBConstraintTestCase(TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['backends']
+
     def test_can_reference_existant(self):
         obj = models.Object.objects.create()
         ref = models.ObjectReference.objects.create(obj=obj)
diff --git a/tests/basic/tests.py b/tests/basic/tests.py
index 6bf46cce9b..4b79c47be5 100644
--- a/tests/basic/tests.py
+++ b/tests/basic/tests.py
@@ -686,6 +686,9 @@ class ModelTest(TestCase):
 
 
 class ConcurrentSaveTests(TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['basic']
+
     @skipUnlessDBFeature('test_db_allows_multiple_connections')
     def test_concurrent_delete_with_save(self):
         """
diff --git a/tests/cache/tests.py b/tests/cache/tests.py
index da80c48058..75b7851400 100644
--- a/tests/cache/tests.py
+++ b/tests/cache/tests.py
@@ -827,6 +827,8 @@ def custom_key_func(key, key_prefix, version):
 
 
 class DBCacheTests(BaseCacheTests, TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = []
     backend_name = 'django.core.cache.backends.db.DatabaseCache'
 
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/tests/delete_regress/tests.py b/tests/delete_regress/tests.py
index e88c95e229..a4908b2121 100644
--- a/tests/delete_regress/tests.py
+++ b/tests/delete_regress/tests.py
@@ -16,6 +16,9 @@ from .models import (Book, Award, AwardNote, Person, Child, Toy, PlayedWith,
 # Can't run this test under SQLite, because you can't
 # get two connections to an in-memory database.
 class DeleteLockingTest(TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['delete_regress']
+
     def setUp(self):
         # Create a second connection to the default database
         new_connections = ConnectionHandler(settings.DATABASES)
@@ -107,6 +110,9 @@ class DeleteCascadeTests(TestCase):
 
 
 class DeleteCascadeTransactionTests(TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['delete_regress']
+
     def test_inheritance(self):
         """
         Auto-created many-to-many through tables referencing a parent model are
diff --git a/tests/file_storage/tests.py b/tests/file_storage/tests.py
index e3f390ff61..6c3c559660 100644
--- a/tests/file_storage/tests.py
+++ b/tests/file_storage/tests.py
@@ -621,6 +621,8 @@ class FileLikeObjectTestCase(LiveServerTestCase):
     """
     Test file-like objects (#15644).
     """
+
+    available_apps = []
     urls = 'file_storage.urls'
 
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/tests.py b/tests/fixtures/tests.py
index 1b4d6eeeef..d0942afdb7 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/tests.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures/tests.py
@@ -354,6 +354,13 @@ class FixtureLoadingTests(DumpDataAssertMixin, TestCase):
 
 class FixtureTransactionTests(DumpDataAssertMixin, TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = [
+        'fixtures',
+        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+        'django.contrib.auth',
+        'django.contrib.sites',
+    ]
+
     @skipUnlessDBFeature('supports_forward_references')
     def test_format_discovery(self):
         # Load fixture 1 again, using format discovery
diff --git a/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py b/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py
index e0a35e300d..dbcc721d8f 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures_model_package/tests.py
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ class SampleTestCase(TestCase):
 
 
 class TestNoInitialDataLoading(TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['fixtures_model_package']
+
     def test_syncdb(self):
         transaction.set_autocommit(False)
         try:
diff --git a/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py b/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py
index 52526ec338..0f6ac65976 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures_regress/tests.py
@@ -685,6 +685,12 @@ class NaturalKeyFixtureTests(TestCase):
 
 class TestTicket11101(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = [
+        'fixtures_regress',
+        'django.contrib.auth',
+        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+    ]
+
     def ticket_11101(self):
         management.call_command(
             'loaddata',
diff --git a/tests/get_or_create/tests.py b/tests/get_or_create/tests.py
index 36c248b169..847a6dec01 100644
--- a/tests/get_or_create/tests.py
+++ b/tests/get_or_create/tests.py
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ class GetOrCreateTests(TestCase):
 
 class GetOrCreateTransactionTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = ['get_or_create']
+
     def test_get_or_create_integrityerror(self):
         # Regression test for #15117. Requires a TransactionTestCase on
         # databases that delay integrity checks until the end of transactions,
diff --git a/tests/handlers/tests.py b/tests/handlers/tests.py
index 397b63647a..2f9f304b81 100644
--- a/tests/handlers/tests.py
+++ b/tests/handlers/tests.py
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ class HandlerTests(TestCase):
 
 
 class TransactionsPerRequestTests(TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = []
     urls = 'handlers.urls'
 
     def test_no_transaction(self):
diff --git a/tests/m2m_through_regress/tests.py b/tests/m2m_through_regress/tests.py
index 5ac10462fa..de4d52a2db 100644
--- a/tests/m2m_through_regress/tests.py
+++ b/tests/m2m_through_regress/tests.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from .models import (Person, Group, Membership, UserMembership, Car, Driver,
 
 
 class M2MThroughTestCase(TestCase):
+
     def test_everything(self):
         bob = Person.objects.create(name="Bob")
         jim = Person.objects.create(name="Jim")
diff --git a/tests/middleware/tests.py b/tests/middleware/tests.py
index 265eb97c36..20645cf91f 100644
--- a/tests/middleware/tests.py
+++ b/tests/middleware/tests.py
@@ -707,6 +707,9 @@ class TransactionMiddlewareTest(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, Transacti
     """
     Test the transaction middleware.
     """
+
+    available_apps = ['middleware']
+
     def setUp(self):
         super(TransactionMiddlewareTest, self).setUp()
         self.request = HttpRequest()
diff --git a/tests/proxy_model_inheritance/tests.py b/tests/proxy_model_inheritance/tests.py
index 239bc67809..85bf74a4e9 100644
--- a/tests/proxy_model_inheritance/tests.py
+++ b/tests/proxy_model_inheritance/tests.py
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ class ProxyModelInheritanceTests(TransactionTestCase):
     apps and calls syncdb, then verifies that the table has been created.
     """
 
+    available_apps = []
+
     def setUp(self):
         self.old_sys_path = sys.path[:]
         sys.path.append(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(upath(__file__))))
@@ -38,7 +40,11 @@ class ProxyModelInheritanceTests(TransactionTestCase):
         del cache.app_models['app2']
 
     def test_table_exists(self):
-        call_command('syncdb', verbosity=0)
+        try:
+            cache.set_available_apps(settings.INSTALLED_APPS)
+            call_command('syncdb', verbosity=0)
+        finally:
+            cache.unset_available_apps()
         from .app1.models import ProxyModel
         from .app2.models import NiceModel
         self.assertEqual(NiceModel.objects.all().count(), 0)
diff --git a/tests/requests/tests.py b/tests/requests/tests.py
index 4d730bb561..d9120db4e7 100644
--- a/tests/requests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/requests/tests.py
@@ -683,6 +683,8 @@ class RequestsTests(SimpleTestCase):
         "Cannot establish two connections to an in-memory SQLite database.")
 class DatabaseConnectionHandlingTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = []
+
     def setUp(self):
         # Use a temporary connection to avoid messing with the main one.
         self._old_default_connection = connections['default']
diff --git a/tests/runtests.py b/tests/runtests.py
index a18324f676..e8b58ad1d5 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.py
+++ b/tests/runtests.py
@@ -72,6 +72,15 @@ def get_installed():
 def setup(verbosity, test_labels):
     from django.conf import settings
     from django.db.models.loading import get_apps, load_app
+    from django.test.testcases import TransactionTestCase, TestCase
+
+    # Force declaring available_apps in TransactionTestCase for faster tests.
+    def no_available_apps(self):
+        raise Exception("Please define available_apps in TransactionTestCase "
+                        "and its subclasses.")
+    TransactionTestCase.available_apps = property(no_available_apps)
+    TestCase.available_apps = None
+
     state = {
         'INSTALLED_APPS': settings.INSTALLED_APPS,
         'ROOT_URLCONF': getattr(settings, "ROOT_URLCONF", ""),
diff --git a/tests/select_for_update/tests.py b/tests/select_for_update/tests.py
index c2fa22705a..f087ca123a 100644
--- a/tests/select_for_update/tests.py
+++ b/tests/select_for_update/tests.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ requires_threading = unittest.skipUnless(threading, 'requires threading')
 
 class SelectForUpdateTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = ['select_for_update']
+
     def setUp(self):
         transaction.enter_transaction_management()
         self.person = Person.objects.create(name='Reinhardt')
diff --git a/tests/serializers/tests.py b/tests/serializers/tests.py
index a96a1af748..038276ca21 100644
--- a/tests/serializers/tests.py
+++ b/tests/serializers/tests.py
@@ -259,6 +259,9 @@ class SerializersTestBase(object):
 
 
 class SerializersTransactionTestBase(object):
+
+    available_apps = ['serializers']
+
     def test_forward_refs(self):
         """
         Tests that objects ids can be referenced before they are
diff --git a/tests/servers/tests.py b/tests/servers/tests.py
index 920149477c..3377793d68 100644
--- a/tests/servers/tests.py
+++ b/tests/servers/tests.py
@@ -30,8 +30,15 @@ TEST_SETTINGS = {
 
 
 class LiveServerBase(LiveServerTestCase):
-    urls = 'servers.urls'
+
+    available_apps = [
+        'servers',
+        'django.contrib.auth',
+        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+        'django.contrib.sessions',
+    ]
     fixtures = ['testdata.json']
+    urls = 'servers.urls'
 
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
diff --git a/tests/settings_tests/tests.py b/tests/settings_tests/tests.py
index 97e43ff0eb..f8d66bb2b7 100644
--- a/tests/settings_tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/settings_tests/tests.py
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ from django.utils import unittest, six
 @override_settings(TEST='override')
 class FullyDecoratedTranTestCase(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = []
+
     def test_override(self):
         self.assertEqual(settings.TEST, 'override')
 
diff --git a/tests/test_runner/tests.py b/tests/test_runner/tests.py
index 95ccf0242a..74a557af26 100644
--- a/tests/test_runner/tests.py
+++ b/tests/test_runner/tests.py
@@ -318,6 +318,8 @@ class AutoIncrementResetTest(TransactionTestCase):
     that AutoField values start from 1 for each transactional test case.
     """
 
+    available_apps = ['test_runner']
+
     reset_sequences = True
 
     @skipUnlessDBFeature('supports_sequence_reset')
diff --git a/tests/transactions/tests.py b/tests/transactions/tests.py
index 0f16a9c805..24b7615d6f 100644
--- a/tests/transactions/tests.py
+++ b/tests/transactions/tests.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ class AtomicTests(TransactionTestCase):
     syntax and the bulk of the tests use the context manager syntax.
     """
 
+    available_apps = ['transactions']
+
     def test_decorator_syntax_commit(self):
         @transaction.atomic
         def make_reporter():
@@ -232,6 +234,8 @@ class AtomicInsideLegacyTransactionManagementTests(AtomicTests):
 class AtomicMergeTests(TransactionTestCase):
     """Test merging transactions with savepoint=False."""
 
+    available_apps = ['transactions']
+
     def test_merged_outer_rollback(self):
         with transaction.atomic():
             Reporter.objects.create(first_name="Tintin")
@@ -286,6 +290,8 @@ class AtomicMergeTests(TransactionTestCase):
         "'atomic' requires transactions and savepoints.")
 class AtomicErrorsTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = []
+
     def test_atomic_prevents_setting_autocommit(self):
         autocommit = transaction.get_autocommit()
         with transaction.atomic():
@@ -311,6 +317,8 @@ class AtomicErrorsTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
 class AtomicMiscTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = []
+
     def test_wrap_callable_instance(self):
         # Regression test for #20028
         class Callable(object):
@@ -322,6 +330,8 @@ class AtomicMiscTests(TransactionTestCase):
 
 class TransactionTests(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = ['transactions']
+
     def create_a_reporter_then_fail(self, first, last):
         a = Reporter(first_name=first, last_name=last)
         a.save()
@@ -477,6 +487,9 @@ class TransactionTests(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionTestCas
 
 
 class TransactionRollbackTests(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['transactions']
+
     def execute_bad_sql(self):
         cursor = connection.cursor()
         cursor.execute("INSERT INTO transactions_reporter (first_name, last_name) VALUES ('Douglas', 'Adams');")
@@ -494,6 +507,9 @@ class TransactionRollbackTests(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, Transactio
         transaction.rollback()
 
 class TransactionContextManagerTests(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['transactions']
+
     def create_reporter_and_fail(self):
         Reporter.objects.create(first_name="Bob", last_name="Holtzman")
         raise Exception
diff --git a/tests/transactions_regress/tests.py b/tests/transactions_regress/tests.py
index 5339b4a8ea..8078f1d128 100644
--- a/tests/transactions_regress/tests.py
+++ b/tests/transactions_regress/tests.py
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ from django.utils.unittest import skipIf, skipUnless
 from .models import Mod, M2mA, M2mB, SubMod
 
 class ModelInheritanceTests(TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['transactions_regress']
+
     def test_save(self):
         # First, create a SubMod, then try to save another with conflicting
         # cnt field. The problem was that transactions were committed after
@@ -33,6 +36,13 @@ class TestTransactionClosing(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionT
     when they should be, and aren't left pending after operations
     have been performed in them. Refs #9964.
     """
+
+    available_apps = [
+        'transactions_regress',
+        'django.contrib.auth',
+        'django.contrib.contenttypes',
+    ]
+
     def test_raw_committed_on_success(self):
         """
         Make sure a transaction consisting of raw SQL execution gets
@@ -188,6 +198,9 @@ class TestNewConnection(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionTestCa
     """
     Check that new connections don't have special behaviour.
     """
+
+    available_apps = ['transactions_regress']
+
     def setUp(self):
         self._old_backend = connections[DEFAULT_DB_ALIAS]
         settings = self._old_backend.settings_dict.copy()
@@ -235,6 +248,9 @@ class TestPostgresAutocommitAndIsolation(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin,
     is restored after entering and leaving transaction management.
     Refs #16047, #18130.
     """
+
+    available_apps = ['transactions_regress']
+
     def setUp(self):
         from psycopg2.extensions import (ISOLATION_LEVEL_AUTOCOMMIT,
                                          ISOLATION_LEVEL_SERIALIZABLE,
@@ -311,6 +327,9 @@ class TestPostgresAutocommitAndIsolation(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin,
 
 
 class TestManyToManyAddTransaction(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = ['transactions_regress']
+
     def test_manyrelated_add_commit(self):
         "Test for https://code.djangoproject.com/ticket/16818"
         a = M2mA.objects.create()
@@ -327,6 +346,8 @@ class TestManyToManyAddTransaction(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, Transa
 
 class SavepointTest(IgnorePendingDeprecationWarningsMixin, TransactionTestCase):
 
+    available_apps = ['transactions_regress']
+
     @skipIf(connection.vendor == 'sqlite',
             "SQLite doesn't support savepoints in managed mode")
     @skipUnlessDBFeature('uses_savepoints')
diff --git a/tests/view_tests/tests/test_i18n.py b/tests/view_tests/tests/test_i18n.py
index 2da17dd0f5..b35b192fd0 100644
--- a/tests/view_tests/tests/test_i18n.py
+++ b/tests/view_tests/tests/test_i18n.py
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ skip_selenium = not os.environ.get('DJANGO_SELENIUM_TESTS', False)
 @unittest.skipIf(skip_selenium, 'Selenium tests not requested')
 @unittest.skipUnless(firefox, 'Selenium not installed')
 class JavascriptI18nTests(LiveServerTestCase):
+
+    available_apps = []
     urls = 'view_tests.urls'
 
     @classmethod