diff --git a/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php b/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
index 73aec6f2ead32330214725300d44a51e764a9133..e5d043792f279d8f37da75edc5442439e790e8c1 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
+++ b/modules/simpletest/drupal_web_test_case.php
@@ -778,6 +778,8 @@ protected function setUp() {
     include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/install.inc';
     drupal_install_system();
 
+    $this->preloadRegistry();
+
     // Add the specified modules to the list of modules in the default profile.
     $args = func_get_args();
     $modules = array_unique(array_merge(drupal_get_profile_modules('default', 'en'), $args));
@@ -794,7 +796,6 @@ protected function setUp() {
     default_profile_tasks($task, '');
 
     // Rebuild caches.
-    menu_rebuild();
     actions_synchronize();
     _drupal_flush_css_js();
     $this->refreshVariables();
@@ -812,6 +813,16 @@ protected function setUp() {
     file_check_directory($directory, FILE_CREATE_DIRECTORY); // Create the files directory.
   }
 
+  /**
+   * This method is called by DrupalWebTestCase::setUp, and preloads the 
+   * registry from the testing site to cut down on the time it takes to 
+   * setup the a clean environment for the current test run. 
+   */ 
+  protected function preloadRegistry() {
+    db_query('INSERT INTO {registry} SELECT * FROM ' . $this->originalPrefix . 'registry');
+    db_query('INSERT INTO {registry_file} SELECT * FROM ' . $this->originalPrefix . 'registry_file');
+  }
+
   /**
    * Refresh the in-memory set of variables. Useful after a page request is made
    * that changes a variable in a different thread.