diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/AvoidStarImportTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/AvoidStarImportTest.java
index e1f92bc4c..ee2796a78 100644
--- a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/AvoidStarImportTest.java
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/AvoidStarImportTest.java
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ public class AvoidStarImportTest
         throws Exception
     {
         final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
-            new DefaultConfiguration("test");
-        checkConfig.addAttribute("classname", AvoidStarImport.class.getName());
+            createCheckConfig(AvoidStarImport.class);
         final Checker c = createChecker(checkConfig);
         final String fname = getPath("InputImport.java");
         final String[] expected = {
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/BaseCheckTestCase.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/BaseCheckTestCase.java
index d43636244..83231f266 100644
--- a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/BaseCheckTestCase.java
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/BaseCheckTestCase.java
@@ -33,6 +33,14 @@ public abstract class BaseCheckTestCase
     protected final PrintStream mStream = new PrintStream(mBAOS);
     protected final Properties mProps = new Properties();
 
+    public static DefaultConfiguration createCheckConfig(Class aClazz)
+    {
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            new DefaultConfiguration("test");
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("classname", aClazz.getName());
+        return checkConfig;
+    }
+
     protected Checker createChecker(Configuration aConfig)
         throws Exception
     {
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/ConstantNameCheckTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/ConstantNameCheckTest.java
index a54951b87..ecfa72bd1 100644
--- a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/ConstantNameCheckTest.java
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/ConstantNameCheckTest.java
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ public class ConstantNameCheckTest
     public void testIllegalRegexp()
         throws Exception
     {
-        final CheckConfiguration checkConfig = new CheckConfiguration();
-        checkConfig.setClassname(ConstantNameCheck.class.getName());
-        checkConfig.addProperty("format", "\\");
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(ConstantNameCheck.class);
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("format", "\\");
         try {
             createChecker(checkConfig);
             fail();
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ public class ConstantNameCheckTest
     public void testDefault()
         throws Exception
     {
-        final CheckConfiguration checkConfig = new CheckConfiguration();
-        checkConfig.setClassname(ConstantNameCheck.class.getName());
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(ConstantNameCheck.class);
         final Checker c = createChecker(checkConfig);
         final String fname = getPath("InputSimple.java");
         final String[] expected = {
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ public class ConstantNameCheckTest
     public void testInterface()
         throws Exception
     {
-        final CheckConfiguration checkConfig = new CheckConfiguration();
-        checkConfig.setClassname(ConstantNameCheck.class.getName());
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(ConstantNameCheck.class);
         final Checker c = createChecker(checkConfig);
         final String fname = getPath("InputInner.java");
         final String[] expected = {
diff --git a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/EmptyBlockCheckTest.java b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/EmptyBlockCheckTest.java
index a0e8bebc8..7cd3f9ca4 100644
--- a/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/EmptyBlockCheckTest.java
+++ b/src/tests/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/EmptyBlockCheckTest.java
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ public class EmptyBlockCheckTest
     public void testDefault()
         throws Exception
     {
-        final CheckConfiguration checkConfig = new CheckConfiguration();
-        checkConfig.setClassname(EmptyBlockCheck.class.getName());
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(EmptyBlockCheck.class);
         final Checker c = createChecker(checkConfig);
         final String fname = getPath("InputSemantic.java");
         final String[] expected = {
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@ public class EmptyBlockCheckTest
     public void testText()
         throws Exception
     {
-        final CheckConfiguration checkConfig = new CheckConfiguration();
-        checkConfig.setClassname(EmptyBlockCheck.class.getName());
-        checkConfig.addProperty("option", BlockOption.TEXT.toString());
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(EmptyBlockCheck.class);
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("option", BlockOption.TEXT.toString());
         final Checker c = createChecker(checkConfig);
         final String fname = getPath("InputSemantic.java");
         final String[] expected = {
@@ -48,9 +48,9 @@ public class EmptyBlockCheckTest
     public void testStatement()
         throws Exception
     {
-        final CheckConfiguration checkConfig = new CheckConfiguration();
-        checkConfig.setClassname(EmptyBlockCheck.class.getName());
-        checkConfig.addProperty("option", BlockOption.STMT.toString());
+        final DefaultConfiguration checkConfig =
+            createCheckConfig(EmptyBlockCheck.class);
+        checkConfig.addAttribute("option", BlockOption.STMT.toString());
         final Checker c = createChecker(checkConfig);
         final String fname = getPath("InputSemantic.java");
         final String[] expected = {