diff --git a/test/system/030-run.bats b/test/system/030-run.bats
index bb12bf6826..5ff1fb29ba 100644
--- a/test/system/030-run.bats
+++ b/test/system/030-run.bats
@@ -127,10 +127,7 @@ echo $rand        |   0 | $rand
 @test "podman run --name" {
     randomname=$(random_string 30)
 
-    # Assume that 4 seconds gives us enough time for 3 quick tests (or at
-    # least for the 'ps'; the 'container exists' should pass even in the
-    # unlikely case that the container exits before we get to them)
-    run_podman run -d --name $randomname $IMAGE sleep 4
+    run_podman run -d --name $randomname $IMAGE sleep inf
     cid=$output
 
     run_podman ps --format '{{.Names}}--{{.ID}}'
@@ -140,7 +137,7 @@ echo $rand        |   0 | $rand
     run_podman container exists $cid
 
     # Done with live-container tests; now let's test after container finishes
-    run_podman wait $cid
+    run_podman stop -t0 $cid
 
     # Container still exists even after stopping:
     run_podman container exists $randomname
@@ -1143,16 +1140,19 @@ EOF
 
     CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman 1 run --rm $IMAGE touch /testro
     CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm --read-only=false $IMAGE touch /testrw
-    CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm $IMAGE touch /tmp/testrw
-    for dir in /tmp /var/tmp /dev /dev/shm /run; do
-        CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm $IMAGE touch $dir/testro
-        CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm --read-only=false $IMAGE touch $dir/testro
-        CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm --read-only=false --read-only-tmpfs=true $IMAGE touch $dir/testro
-        CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm --read-only-tmpfs=true $IMAGE touch $dir/testro
 
-        CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman 1 run --rm --read-only-tmpfs=false $IMAGE touch $dir/testro
-        assert "$output" =~ "touch: $dir/testro: Read-only file system"
-    done
+    files="/tmp/a /var/tmp/b /dev/c /dev/shm/d /run/e"
+    CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm $IMAGE touch $files
+    CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm --read-only=false $IMAGE touch $files
+    CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm --read-only=false --read-only-tmpfs=true $IMAGE touch $files
+    CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman run --rm --read-only-tmpfs=true $IMAGE touch $files
+
+    CONTAINERS_CONF_OVERRIDE="$containersconf" run_podman 1 run --rm --read-only-tmpfs=false $IMAGE touch $files
+    assert "$output" == "touch: /tmp/a: Read-only file system
+touch: /var/tmp/b: Read-only file system
+touch: /dev/c: Read-only file system
+touch: /dev/shm/d: Read-only file system
+touch: /run/e: Read-only file system"
 }
 
 @test "podman run ulimit from containers.conf" {
diff --git a/test/system/035-logs.bats b/test/system/035-logs.bats
index e0d80db689..6325b88e06 100644
--- a/test/system/035-logs.bats
+++ b/test/system/035-logs.bats
@@ -89,36 +89,30 @@ function _log_test_multi() {
 
     skip_if_remote "logs does not support multiple containers when run remotely"
 
-    # Under k8s file, 'podman logs' returns just the facts, Ma'am.
-    # Under journald, there may be other cruft (e.g. container removals)
-    local etc=
-    if [[ $driver =~ journal ]]; then
-        etc='.*'
-    fi
-
     local events_backend=$(_additional_events_backend $driver)
 
     # Simple helper to make the container starts, below, easier to read
     local -a cid
     doit() {
-        run_podman ${events_backend} run --log-driver=$driver --rm -d --name "$1" $IMAGE sh -c "$2";
+        run_podman ${events_backend} run --log-driver=$driver -d \
+            --name "$1" $IMAGE sh -c "$2";
         cid+=($(echo "${output:0:12}"))
     }
 
-    # Not really a guarantee that we'll get a-b-c-d in order, but it's
-    # the best we can do. The trailing 'sleep' in each container
-    # minimizes the chance of a race condition in which the container
-    # is removed before 'podman logs' has a chance to wake up and read
-    # the final output.
-    doit c1         "echo a;sleep 10;echo d;sleep 3"
-    doit c2 "sleep 1;echo b;sleep  2;echo c;sleep 3"
+    doit c1 "echo a1; echo a2"
+    doit c2 "echo b1; echo b2"
 
+    # Reading logs only guarantees the order for a single container,
+    # when using multiple containers the line order between them can vary.
     run_podman ${events_backend} logs -f c1 c2
     assert "$output" =~ \
-       "${cid[0]} a$etc
-${cid[1]} b$etc
-${cid[1]} c$etc
-${cid[0]} d"   "Sequential output from logs"
+       ".*^${cid[0]} a1\$.*
+${cid[0]} a2"   "Sequential output from c1"
+    assert "$output" =~ \
+       ".*^${cid[1]} b1\$.*
+${cid[1]} b2"   "Sequential output from c2"
+
+    run_podman rm -f -t0 ${cid[0]} ${cid[1]}
 }
 
 @test "podman logs - multi k8s-file" {
diff --git a/test/system/040-ps.bats b/test/system/040-ps.bats
index f9fc531fa2..5259299ecc 100644
--- a/test/system/040-ps.bats
+++ b/test/system/040-ps.bats
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ load helpers
        "${cid:0:12} \+$IMAGE \+sleep [0-9]\+ .*second.* $cname"\
        "output from podman ps"
 
-    # OK. Wait for sleep to finish...
-    run_podman wait $cid
+    # OK. Stop container now.
+    run_podman stop -t0 $cid
 
     # ...then make sure container shows up as stopped
     run_podman ps -a
diff --git a/test/system/055-rm.bats b/test/system/055-rm.bats
index c8169746ec..cfd2adf009 100644
--- a/test/system/055-rm.bats
+++ b/test/system/055-rm.bats
@@ -124,10 +124,10 @@ function __run_healthcheck_container() {
     run_podman run -d --name $1 \
                --health-cmd /bin/false \
                --health-interval 1s \
-               --health-retries 2 \
+               --health-retries 1 \
                --health-timeout 1s \
                --health-on-failure=stop \
-               --stop-timeout=2 \
+               --stop-timeout=1 \
                --health-start-period 0 \
                --stop-signal SIGTERM \
                $IMAGE sleep infinity
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ function __run_healthcheck_container() {
         assert "$output" =~ "Error: cannot remove container $cid as it is .* - running or paused containers cannot be removed without force: container state improper" \
                "Expected error message from podman rm"
         rm_failures=$((rm_failures + 1))
-        sleep 1
+        sleep 0.5
     done
 
     # At this point, container should be gone
diff --git a/test/system/130-kill.bats b/test/system/130-kill.bats
index 013edc3d5c..c03a7e1121 100644
--- a/test/system/130-kill.bats
+++ b/test/system/130-kill.bats
@@ -7,35 +7,18 @@ load helpers
 
 # bats test_tags=distro-integration
 @test "podman kill - test signal handling in containers" {
-
-    # Prepare for 'logs -f'
-    run_podman info --format '{{.Host.LogDriver}}'
-    log_driver=$output
-    run_podman info --format '{{.Host.EventLogger}}'
-    event_logger=$output
-    opt_log_driver=
-    if [ $log_driver = "journald" ] && [ $event_logger != "journald" ]; then
-        # Since PR#10431, 'logs -f' with journald driver is only supported with journald events backend.
-        # Set '--log driver' temporally because remote doesn't support '--events-backend'.
-        opt_log_driver="--log-driver k8s-file"
-    fi
+    local cname=c-$(random_string 10)
+    local fifo=${PODMAN_TMPDIR}/podman-kill-fifo.$(random_string 10)
+    mkfifo $fifo
 
     # Start a container that will handle all signals by emitting 'got: N'
     local -a signals=(1 2 3 4 5 6 8 10 12 13 14 15 16 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 64)
-    run_podman run -d ${opt_log_driver} $IMAGE sh -c \
+    $PODMAN run --name $cname $IMAGE sh -c \
         "for i in ${signals[*]}; do trap \"echo got: \$i\" \$i; done;
         echo READY;
         while ! test -e /stop; do sleep 0.1; done;
-        echo DONE"
-    cid="$output"
-
-    # Run 'logs -f' on that container, but run it in the background with
-    # redirection to a named pipe from which we (foreground job) read
-    # and confirm that signals are received. We can't use run_podman here.
-    local fifo=${PODMAN_TMPDIR}/podman-kill-fifo.$(random_string 10)
-    mkfifo $fifo
-    $PODMAN logs -f $cid >$fifo </dev/null &
-    podman_log_pid=$!
+        echo DONE" &>$fifo </dev/null &
+    podman_run_pid=$!
 
     # Open the FIFO for reading, and keep it open. This prevents a race
     # condition in which the container can exit (e.g. if for some reason
@@ -54,7 +37,7 @@ load helpers
         local signal=$1
         local signum=${2:-$1}       # e.g. if signal=HUP, we expect to see '1'
 
-        run_podman kill -s $signal $cid
+        run_podman kill -s $signal $cname
         read -t 60 -u 5 actual || die "Timed out: no ACK for kill -s $signal"
         is "$actual" "got: $signum" "Signal $signal handled by container"
     }
@@ -74,14 +57,13 @@ load helpers
     # Done. Tell the container to stop, and wait for final DONE.
     # The '-d' is because container exit is racy: the exec process itself
     # could get caught and killed by cleanup, causing this step to exit 137
-    run_podman exec -d $cid touch /stop
+    run_podman exec -d $cname touch /stop
     read -t 5 -u 5 done || die "Timed out waiting for DONE from container"
     is "$done" "DONE" "final log message from container"
 
     # Clean up
-    run_podman wait $cid
-    run_podman rm $cid
-    wait $podman_log_pid
+    run_podman rm -f -t0 $cname
+    wait $podman_run_pid || die "wait for podman run failed"
 }
 
 @test "podman kill - rejects invalid args" {
diff --git a/test/system/600-completion.bats b/test/system/600-completion.bats
index 6a577ffc12..2f5aa0b9c7 100644
--- a/test/system/600-completion.bats
+++ b/test/system/600-completion.bats
@@ -213,8 +213,8 @@ function check_shell_completion() {
 
                 i=$(($i + 1))
                 # If the argument ends with ...] than we accept 0...n args
-                # Loop three times to make sure we are not only completing the first arg
-                if [[ ! ${arg} =~ "..." ]] || [[ i -gt 3 ]]; then
+                # Loop two times to make sure we are not only completing the first arg
+                if [[ ! ${arg} =~ "..." ]] || [[ i -gt 1 ]]; then
                     break
                 fi
 
diff --git a/test/system/700-play.bats b/test/system/700-play.bats
index c36ed04b9b..0944158c94 100644
--- a/test/system/700-play.bats
+++ b/test/system/700-play.bats
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@ metadata:
 spec:
   containers:
   - command:
-    - sleep
-    - \"100\"
+    - /home/podman/pause
     env:
     - name: PATH
       value: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
@@ -811,15 +810,12 @@ EOF
 }
 
 @test "podman kube generate tmpfs on /tmp" {
-      KUBE=$PODMAN_TMPDIR/kube.yaml
-      run_podman create --name test $IMAGE sleep 100
-      run_podman kube generate test -f $KUBE
-      run_podman kube play $KUBE
-      run_podman exec test-pod-test sh -c "mount | grep /tmp"
+      local yaml=$PODMAN_TMPDIR/test.yaml
+      _write_test_yaml command=/home/podman/pause
+      run_podman kube play $yaml
+      run_podman exec test_pod-test sh -c "mount | grep /tmp"
       assert "$output" !~ "noexec" "mounts on /tmp should not be noexec"
-      run_podman kube down $KUBE
-      run_podman pod rm -a -f -t 0
-      run_podman rm -a -f -t 0
+      run_podman kube down $yaml
 }
 
 @test "podman kube play - pull policy" {