diff --git a/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh b/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh
index 14974f91..98e788ec 100755
--- a/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh
+++ b/tests/cli/lib/lib.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+. /usr/share/beakerlib/beakerlib.sh
+
 # Monkey-patch beakerlib to exit on first failure if COMPOSER_TEST_FAIL_FAST is
 # set. https://github.com/beakerlib/beakerlib/issues/42
+COMPOSER_TEST_FAIL_FAST=${COMPOSER_TEST_FAIL_FAST:-0}
 if [ "$COMPOSER_TEST_FAIL_FAST" == "1" ]; then
   eval "original$(declare -f __INTERNAL_LogAndJournalFail)"
 
@@ -37,6 +40,58 @@ boot_image() {
     done;
 }
 
+wait_for_composer() {
+    tries=0
+    until curl -m 15 --unix-socket /run/weldr/api.socket http://localhost:4000/api/status | grep 'db_supported.*true'; do
+        tries=$((tries + 1))
+        if [ $tries -gt 50 ]; then
+            exit 1
+        fi
+        sleep 5
+        echo "DEBUG: Waiting for backend API to become ready before testing ..."
+    done;
+}
+
+composer_start() {
+    local rc
+    local params="$@"
+
+    if [[ -z "$CLI" || "$CLI" == "./src/bin/composer-cli" ]]; then
+        ./src/sbin/lorax-composer $params --sharedir $SHARE_DIR $BLUEPRINTS_DIR &
+    elif [ -n "$params" ]; then
+        /usr/sbin/lorax-composer $params /var/lib/lorax/composer/blueprints &
+    else
+        # socket stop/start seems to be necessary for a proper service restart
+        # after a previous direct manual run for it to work properly
+        systemctl start lorax-composer.socket
+        systemctl start lorax-composer
+    fi
+    rc=$?
+
+    # wait for the backend to become ready
+    if [ "$rc" -eq 0 ]; then
+        wait_for_composer
+    else
+        rlLogFail "Unable to start lorax-composer (exit code $rc)"
+    fi
+    return $rc
+}
+
+composer_stop() {
+    MANUAL=${MANUAL:-0}
+    # socket stop/start seems to be necessary for a proper service restart
+    # after a previous direct manual run for it to work properly
+    if systemctl list-units | grep -q lorax-composer.socket; then
+        systemctl stop lorax-composer.socket
+    fi
+
+    if [[ -z "$CLI" || "$CLI" == "./src/bin/composer-cli" || "$MANUAL" == "1" ]]; then
+        pkill -9 lorax-composer
+        rm -f /run/weldr/api.socket
+    else
+        systemctl stop lorax-composer
+    fi
+}
 
 # a generic helper function unifying the specific checks executed on a running
 # image instance
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.sh b/tests/test_cli.sh
index c0949e38..76eb0019 100755
--- a/tests/test_cli.sh
+++ b/tests/test_cli.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 set -eu
 
+. $(dirname $0)/cli/lib/lib.sh
+
 export BEAKERLIB_DIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/composer-test.XXXXXX)
 CLI="${CLI:-}"
 
@@ -58,38 +60,25 @@ if [ -z "$CLI" ]; then
     export top_srcdir=`pwd`
     . ./tests/testenv.sh
 
-    BLUEPRINTS_DIR=`mktemp -d '/tmp/composer-blueprints.XXXXX'`
-    export BLUEPRINTS_DIR
+    export BLUEPRINTS_DIR=`mktemp -d '/tmp/composer-blueprints.XXXXX'`
     cp ./tests/pylorax/blueprints/*.toml $BLUEPRINTS_DIR
 
-    SHARE_DIR=`mktemp -d '/tmp/composer-share.XXXXX'`
+    export SHARE_DIR=`mktemp -d '/tmp/composer-share.XXXXX'`
     cp -R ./share/* $SHARE_DIR
     chmod a+rx -R $SHARE_DIR
 
     setup_tests $SHARE_DIR $BLUEPRINTS_DIR
     # start the lorax-composer daemon
-    ./src/sbin/lorax-composer --sharedir $SHARE_DIR $BLUEPRINTS_DIR &
+    composer_start
 else
     export PACKAGE="composer-cli"
     export BLUEPRINTS_DIR="/var/lib/lorax/composer/blueprints"
-    systemctl stop lorax-composer
+    composer_stop
     setup_tests /usr/share/lorax /var/lib/lorax/composer/blueprints
-    systemctl start lorax-composer
+    composer_start
 fi
 
 
-# wait for the backend to become ready
-tries=0
-until curl -m 15 --unix-socket /run/weldr/api.socket http://localhost:4000/api/status | grep 'db_supported.*true'; do
-    tries=$((tries + 1))
-    if [ $tries -gt 50 ]; then
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    sleep 5
-    echo "DEBUG: Waiting for backend API to become ready before testing ..."
-done;
-
-
 export BEAKERLIB_JOURNAL=0
 export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"
 if [ -z "$*" ]; then
@@ -108,15 +97,14 @@ fi
 if [ -z "$CLI" ]; then
     # stop lorax-composer and remove /run/weldr/api.socket
     # only if running against source
-    pkill -9 lorax-composer
-    rm -f /run/weldr/api.socket
+    composer_stop
     teardown_tests $SHARE_DIR $BLUEPRINTS_DIR
 else
-    systemctl stop lorax-composer
+    composer_stop
     teardown_tests /usr/share/lorax /var/lib/lorax/composer/blueprints
     # start lorax-composer again so we can continue with manual or other kinds
     # of testing on the same system
-    systemctl start lorax-composer
+    composer_start
 fi
 
 . $BEAKERLIB_DIR/TestResults