diff --git a/includes/install.core.inc b/includes/install.core.inc
index 443ec8aa4ffafaba4e4b0c5deb6c4d86ef1b1d91..5e16023b27c5cdf3c1465c0cde46e1f6a3bcebd2 100644
--- a/includes/install.core.inc
+++ b/includes/install.core.inc
@@ -1111,6 +1111,11 @@ function install_select_profile_form($form, &$form_state, $profile_files) {
     include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/' . $profile->uri;
 
     $details = install_profile_info($profile->name);
+    // Don't show hidden profiles. This is used by to hide the testing profile,
+    // which only exists to speed up test runs.
+    if ($details['hidden'] === TRUE) {
+      continue;
+    }
     $profiles[$profile->name] = $details;
 
     // Determine the name of the profile; default to file name if defined name
diff --git a/includes/install.inc b/includes/install.inc
index 92528d880de059a55239c27c9936e5a4320978a3..e68e272d3333e5ab1fa6719412474092a264cc39 100644
--- a/includes/install.inc
+++ b/includes/install.inc
@@ -1022,6 +1022,7 @@ function install_profile_info($profile, $locale = 'en') {
       'description' => '',
       'distribution_name' => 'Drupal',
       'version' => NULL,
+      'hidden' => FALSE,
       'php' => DRUPAL_MINIMUM_PHP,
     );
     $info = drupal_parse_info_file("profiles/$profile/$profile.info") + $defaults;
diff --git a/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php b/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
index b5babec212b2c1801b23e6de5485bf40118c9fa5..739aaa74fb1fa55de514b8d20463b0c6b0eee8e9 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
+++ b/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
@@ -621,6 +621,13 @@ protected function tearDown() {
  * Test case for typical Drupal tests.
  */
 class DrupalWebTestCase extends DrupalTestCase {
+  /**
+   * The profile to install as a basis for testing.
+   *
+   * @var string
+   */
+  protected $profile = 'standard';
+
   /**
    * The URL currently loaded in the internal browser.
    *
@@ -1193,11 +1200,11 @@ protected function setUp() {
     variable_set('file_private_path', $private_files_directory);
     variable_set('file_temporary_path', $temp_files_directory);
 
-    // Include the default profile.
-    variable_set('install_profile', 'standard');
-    $profile_details = install_profile_info('standard', 'en');
+    // Include the testing profile.
+    variable_set('install_profile', $this->profile);
+    $profile_details = install_profile_info($this->profile, 'en');
 
-    // Install the modules specified by the default profile.
+    // Install the modules specified by the testing profile.
     module_enable($profile_details['dependencies'], FALSE);
 
     // Install modules needed for this test. This could have been passed in as
@@ -1212,8 +1219,13 @@ protected function setUp() {
       module_enable($modules, TRUE);
     }
 
-    // Run default profile tasks.
-    module_enable(array('standard'), FALSE);
+    // Run the profile tasks.
+    $install_profile_module_exists = db_query("SELECT 1 FROM {system} WHERE type = 'module' AND name = :name", array(
+      ':name' => $this->profile))
+      ->fetchField();
+    if ($install_profile_module_exists) {
+      module_enable(array($this->profile), FALSE);
+    }
 
     // Rebuild caches.
     drupal_static_reset();
@@ -3064,7 +3076,6 @@ protected function verbose($message) {
       $this->error(l(t('Verbose message'), $url, array('attributes' => array('target' => '_blank'))), 'User notice');
     }
   }
-
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/modules/simpletest/tests/database_test.test b/modules/simpletest/tests/database_test.test
index e7f81289363934b8f29f8ada99941f0f3a97399d..89b28537a594fac6ed473d6e74ec5a92712eb695 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/tests/database_test.test
+++ b/modules/simpletest/tests/database_test.test
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ class FakeRecord { }
  * here.
  */
 class DatabaseTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
+  protected $profile = 'testing';
 
   function setUp() {
     parent::setUp('database_test');
diff --git a/profiles/testing/testing.info b/profiles/testing/testing.info
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a82b1158ab76f42860a35f1587a63cd23790956d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/profiles/testing/testing.info
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+; $Id$
+name = Testing
+description = Totally stripped back testing profile.
+version = VERSION
+core = 7.x
+hidden = TRUE
diff --git a/profiles/testing/testing.install b/profiles/testing/testing.install
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..74a1fff0085bb9b7f2ef5b2cfee1bd24c68ccf41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/profiles/testing/testing.install
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * Implements hook_install().
+ *
+ * Perform actions to set up the site for this profile.
+ */
+function testing_install() {
+
+  // Allow visitor account creation, but with administrative approval.
+  variable_set('user_register', USER_REGISTER_VISITORS_ADMINISTRATIVE_APPROVAL);
+
+  // Enable default permissions for system roles.
+  user_role_grant_permissions(DRUPAL_ANONYMOUS_RID, array('access content'));
+  user_role_grant_permissions(DRUPAL_AUTHENTICATED_RID, array('access content'));
+}
+
diff --git a/profiles/testing/testing.profile b/profiles/testing/testing.profile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..b02b32d42c84f381ca2b88a31f77bfd3233b4d30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/profiles/testing/testing.profile
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<?php
+// $Id$
+