diff --git a/ci/test.sh b/ci/test.sh
index 1a939e950..3f6d45c37 100755
--- a/ci/test.sh
+++ b/ci/test.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ chown -R 1001:1001 .
 export DEVELOCITY_CACHE_USERNAME=${DEVELOCITY_CACHE_USR}
 export DEVELOCITY_CACHE_PASSWORD=${DEVELOCITY_CACHE_PSW}
 export JENKINS_USER=${JENKINS_USER_NAME}
+export SDN_FORCE_REUSE_OF_CONTAINERS=true
 
 # The environment variable to configure access key is still GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY
 export GRADLE_ENTERPRISE_ACCESS_KEY=${DEVELOCITY_ACCESS_KEY}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/test/Neo4jExtension.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/test/Neo4jExtension.java
index 024401e54..d8ce5ef46 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/test/Neo4jExtension.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/test/Neo4jExtension.java
@@ -38,12 +38,9 @@ import org.testcontainers.utility.TestcontainersConfiguration;
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
 import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.HashMap;
-import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.Set;
 
@@ -82,11 +79,12 @@ public class Neo4jExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback {
 	private static final String SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_ACCEPT_COMMERCIAL_EDITION = "SDN_NEO4J_ACCEPT_COMMERCIAL_EDITION";
 	private static final String SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_REPOSITORY = "SDN_NEO4J_REPOSITORY";
 	private static final String SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_VERSION = "SDN_NEO4J_VERSION";
+	private static final String SYS_PROPERTY_FORCE_CONTAINER_REUSE = "SDN_FORCE_REUSE_OF_CONTAINERS";
 	private static final Log log = org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory.getLog(Neo4jExtension.class);
 
-	private static Set<String> COMMUNITY_EDITION_INDICATOR = Collections.singleton("community");
+	private static Set<String> COMMUNITY_EDITION_INDICATOR = Set.of("community");
 
-	private static Set<String> COMMERCIAL_EDITION_INDICATOR = new HashSet<>(Arrays.asList("commercial", "enterprise"));
+	private static Set<String> COMMERCIAL_EDITION_INDICATOR = Set.of("commercial", "enterprise");
 
 	@Override
 	public void beforeAll(ExtensionContext context) throws Exception {
@@ -295,21 +293,20 @@ public class Neo4jExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback {
 
 	static class ContainerAdapter implements ExtensionContext.Store.CloseableResource {
 
-		private final String repository = Optional.ofNullable(System.getenv(SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_REPOSITORY)).orElse("neo4j");
+		private static final String repository = Optional.ofNullable(System.getenv(SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_REPOSITORY)).orElse("neo4j");
 
-		private final String imageVersion = Optional.ofNullable(System.getenv(SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_VERSION)).orElse("5");
+		private static final String imageVersion = Optional.ofNullable(System.getenv(SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_VERSION)).orElse("5");
 
-		private final boolean containerReuseSupported = TestcontainersConfiguration
+		private static final boolean containerReuseSupported = TestcontainersConfiguration
 				.getInstance().environmentSupportsReuse();
 
-		private final Neo4jContainer<?> neo4jContainer = new Neo4jContainer<>(repository + ":" + imageVersion)
+		private  static final boolean forceReuse = Boolean.parseBoolean(System.getenv(SYS_PROPERTY_FORCE_CONTAINER_REUSE));
+
+		private static final Neo4jContainer<?> neo4jContainer = new Neo4jContainer<>(repository + ":" + imageVersion)
 				.withoutAuthentication()
 				.withEnv("NEO4J_ACCEPT_LICENSE_AGREEMENT",
 						Optional.ofNullable(System.getenv(SYS_PROPERTY_NEO4J_ACCEPT_COMMERCIAL_EDITION)).orElse("no"))
-				.withTmpFs(new HashMap<String, String>() {{ // K.W. Gedächtnis-Double-Brace-Initialization
-					put("/log", "rw");
-					put("/data", "rw");
-				}})
+				.withTmpFs(Map.of("/log", "rw", "/data", "rw"))
 				.withReuse(containerReuseSupported);
 
 		public String getBoltUrl() {
@@ -317,13 +314,15 @@ public class Neo4jExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback {
 		}
 
 		public void start() {
-			neo4jContainer.start();
+			if (!neo4jContainer.isRunning()) {
+				neo4jContainer.start();
+			}
 		}
 
 		@Override
 		public void close() {
-			if (!containerReuseSupported) {
-				this.neo4jContainer.close();
+			if (!(containerReuseSupported || forceReuse)) {
+				neo4jContainer.close();
 			}
 		}
 	}