diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/jax-rs-annotations/src/test/groovy/JerseyTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/jax-rs-annotations/src/test/groovy/JerseyTest.groovy
index 8360991341..8cdf7c9828 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/jax-rs-annotations/src/test/groovy/JerseyTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/jax-rs-annotations/src/test/groovy/JerseyTest.groovy
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class JerseyTest extends AgentTestRunner {
   def "test resource"() {
     setup:
     // start a trace because the test doesn't go through any servlet or other instrumentation.
-    def scope = TEST_TRACER.buildSpan("test.span").startActive(true)
+    def scope = getTestTracer().buildSpan("test.span").startActive(true)
     def response = resources.client().resource("/test/hello/bob").post(String)
     scope.close()
 
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-streams-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaStreamsTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-streams-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaStreamsTest.groovy
index ecf21c732a..90b5f22c39 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-streams-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaStreamsTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/instrumentation/kafka-streams-0.11/src/test/groovy/KafkaStreamsTest.groovy
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ class KafkaStreamsTest extends AgentTestRunner {
       @Override
       void onMessage(ConsumerRecord<String, String> record) {
         WRITER_PHASER.arriveAndAwaitAdvance() // ensure consistent ordering of traces
-        TEST_TRACER.activeSpan().setTag("testing", 123)
+        getTestTracer().activeSpan().setTag("testing", 123)
         records.add(record)
       }
     })
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ class KafkaStreamsTest extends AgentTestRunner {
       @Override
       String apply(String textLine) {
         WRITER_PHASER.arriveAndAwaitAdvance() // ensure consistent ordering of traces
-        TEST_TRACER.activeSpan().setTag("asdf", "testing")
+        getTestTracer().activeSpan().setTag("asdf", "testing")
         return textLine.toLowerCase()
       }
     })
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/testing/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/test/AgentTestRunner.java b/dd-java-agent/testing/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/test/AgentTestRunner.java
index 247189b22b..4dcce35f88 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/testing/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/test/AgentTestRunner.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/testing/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/test/AgentTestRunner.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import datadog.opentracing.DDTracer;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.AgentInstaller;
 import datadog.trace.agent.tooling.Instrumenter;
 import datadog.trace.common.writer.ListWriter;
+import datadog.trace.common.writer.Writer;
 import io.opentracing.Tracer;
 import java.lang.instrument.ClassFileTransformer;
 import java.lang.instrument.Instrumentation;
@@ -52,7 +53,10 @@ public abstract class AgentTestRunner extends Specification {
    */
   public static final ListWriter TEST_WRITER;
 
-  protected static final Tracer TEST_TRACER;
+  // having a reference to io.opentracing.Tracer in test field
+  // loads opentracing before bootstrap classpath is setup
+  // so we declare tracer as an object and cast when needed.
+  private static final Object TEST_TRACER;
   private static final AtomicInteger INSTRUMENTATION_ERROR_COUNT = new AtomicInteger();
 
   private static final Instrumentation instrumentation;
@@ -77,7 +81,15 @@ public abstract class AgentTestRunner extends Specification {
           }
         };
     TEST_TRACER = new DDTracer(TEST_WRITER);
-    TestUtils.registerOrReplaceGlobalTracer(TEST_TRACER);
+    TestUtils.registerOrReplaceGlobalTracer((Tracer) TEST_TRACER);
+  }
+
+  protected static Tracer getTestTracer() {
+    return (Tracer) TEST_TRACER;
+  }
+
+  protected static Writer getTestWriter() {
+    return TEST_WRITER;
   }
 
   @BeforeClass
@@ -100,7 +112,7 @@ public abstract class AgentTestRunner extends Specification {
   public void beforeTest() {
     TEST_WRITER.start();
     INSTRUMENTATION_ERROR_COUNT.set(0);
-    assert (TEST_TRACER).activeSpan() == null;
+    assert getTestTracer().activeSpan() == null;
   }
 
   @After
diff --git a/dd-java-agent/testing/src/test/groovy/AgentTestRunnerTest.groovy b/dd-java-agent/testing/src/test/groovy/AgentTestRunnerTest.groovy
index e5fd759300..ac059dfe48 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/testing/src/test/groovy/AgentTestRunnerTest.groovy
+++ b/dd-java-agent/testing/src/test/groovy/AgentTestRunnerTest.groovy
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import datadog.trace.agent.test.TestUtils
+import io.opentracing.Tracer
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Field
 
@@ -8,6 +9,8 @@ class AgentTestRunnerTest extends AgentTestRunner {
   private static final ClassLoader BOOTSTRAP_CLASSLOADER = null
   private static final ClassLoader OT_LOADER
   private static final boolean AGENT_INSTALLED_IN_CLINIT
+  // having opentracing class in test field should not cause problems
+  private static final Tracer A_TRACER = null
 
   static {
     // when test class initializes, opentracing should be set up, but not the agent.
@@ -17,9 +20,10 @@ class AgentTestRunnerTest extends AgentTestRunner {
 
   def "classpath setup"() {
     expect:
+    A_TRACER == null
     OT_LOADER == BOOTSTRAP_CLASSLOADER
     !AGENT_INSTALLED_IN_CLINIT
-    TEST_TRACER == TestUtils.getUnderlyingGlobalTracer()
+    getTestTracer() == TestUtils.getUnderlyingGlobalTracer()
     getAgentTransformer() != null
     datadog.trace.api.Trace.getClassLoader() == BOOTSTRAP_CLASSLOADER
   }