diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cbd2c1ce3..24cf349f5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -123,7 +123,6 @@ testfront: $(INSTALL_DIR)/koreader/.busted
 	-rm -rf spec/unit/data/*.sdr
 	cd $(INSTALL_DIR)/koreader && ./luajit $(shell which busted) \
 		--sort-files \
-		--no-auto-insulate \
 		--output=gtest \
 		--exclude-tags=notest $(BUSTED_OVERRIDES) $(BUSTED_SPEC_FILE)
 
@@ -136,7 +135,6 @@ coverage: $(INSTALL_DIR)/koreader/.luacov
 	cd $(INSTALL_DIR)/koreader && \
 		./luajit $(shell which busted) --output=gtest \
 			--sort-files \
-			--no-auto-insulate \
 			--coverage --exclude-tags=nocov
 	# coverage report summary
 	cd $(INSTALL_DIR)/koreader && tail -n \
diff --git a/kodev b/kodev
index 4e0510813..4252e7bfb 100755
--- a/kodev
+++ b/kodev
@@ -758,8 +758,6 @@ OPTIONS:
 
         echo "Running tests in" "${test_path}"
         busted --lua="./luajit" "${opts}" \
-            --no-auto-insulate \
-            --lazy \
             --output=gtest \
             --exclude-tags=notest "${test_path}"
     } && popd || exit
@@ -809,8 +807,6 @@ OPTIONS:
             echo "Running tests in" ${test_path}
             busted --lua="./luajit" \
                 --sort-files \
-                --no-auto-insulate \
-                --lazy \
                 -o "./spec/${target}/unit/verbose_print" \
                 --coverage \
                 --exclude-tags=nocov "${test_path}" || {
diff --git a/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua b/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua
index 72eb71eed..538bdbc86 100644
--- a/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/commonrequire.lua
@@ -1,3 +1,14 @@
+-- don't try to overwrite metatables so we can use --auto-insulate-tests
+-- shamelessly copied from https://github.com/Olivine-Labs/busted/commit/db6d8b4be8fd099ab387efeb8232cfd905912abb
+local ffi = require "ffi"
+local old_metatype = ffi.metatype
+local exists = {}
+ffi.metatype = function(def, mttable)
+    if exists[def] then return exists[def] end
+    exists[def] = old_metatype(def, mttable)
+    return exists[def]
+end
+
 require "defaults"
 package.path = "?.lua;common/?.lua;rocks/share/lua/5.1/?.lua;frontend/?.lua;" .. package.path
 package.cpath = "?.so;common/?.so;/usr/lib/lua/?.so;rocks/lib/lua/5.1/?.so;" .. package.cpath
diff --git a/spec/unit/readertoc_spec.lua b/spec/unit/readertoc_spec.lua
index 6c160924e..7c011dc1f 100644
--- a/spec/unit/readertoc_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/readertoc_spec.lua
@@ -1,19 +1,23 @@
 describe("Readertoc module", function()
-    local DocumentRegistry, ReaderUI, DEBUG
+    local DocumentRegistry, Event, ReaderUI, DEBUG
     local readerui, toc, toc_max_depth, title
 
     setup(function()
         require("commonrequire")
         DocumentRegistry = require("document/documentregistry")
+        Event = require("ui/event")
         ReaderUI = require("apps/reader/readerui")
         DEBUG = require("dbg")
 
         local sample_epub = "spec/front/unit/data/juliet.epub"
+
         readerui = ReaderUI:new{
             document = DocumentRegistry:openDocument(sample_epub),
         }
         -- reset book to first page
         readerui.rolling:onGotoPage(0)
+        readerui.document:setSpaceCondensing(75)
+        readerui:handleEvent(Event:new("ChangeScreenMode", "portrait"))
         toc = readerui.toc
     end)
 
@@ -24,9 +28,9 @@ describe("Readertoc module", function()
     it("should get toc title from page", function()
         title = toc:getTocTitleByPage(60)
         DEBUG("toc", toc.toc)
-        assert(title == "SCENE V. A hall in Capulet's house.")
+        assert.is.equal("SCENE V. A hall in Capulet's house.", title)
         title = toc:getTocTitleByPage(187)
-        assert(title == "SCENE I. Friar Laurence's cell.")
+        assert.is.equal("SCENE I. Friar Laurence's cell.", title)
     end)
     describe("getTocTicks API", function()
         local ticks_level_0 = nil