diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/sharding.cpp b/maxscale-system-test/sharding.cpp
index 19191f622..af87a5b74 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/sharding.cpp
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/sharding.cpp
@@ -38,134 +38,158 @@
 
 int main(int argc, char* argv[])
 {
+    TestConnections test(argc, argv);
+    test.set_timeout(30);
+    const char opening_fmt[] = "Opening connection to sharding router using user '%s', "
+                               "password '%s' and db '%s'.\n";
+    const char common_db[] = "common_db"; // This db will be on all backends.
+    const char shard_db_fmt[] = "shard_db_%i"; // Server-specific db name prefix
+    const char shard_table_fmt[] = "shard_table_%i";
+    const char user_name_fmt[] = "test_user_%i";
+    const char user_pw_fmt[] = "test_passwd_%i";
 
-    TestConnections* Test = new TestConnections(argc, argv);
-    Test->set_timeout(30);
-    int i, j;
-    char str[256];
-    char str1[256];
-    char user_str[256];
-    char pass_str[256];
+    const int N = test.repl->N; // Number of nodes and users.
+    const int LEN = 20;
 
-    Test->repl->execute_query_all_nodes("STOP SLAVE");
-    Test->repl->connect();
+    // Generate various strings.
+    char shard_dbs[N][LEN];
+    char shard_tables[N][LEN];
+    char user_names[N][LEN];
+    char user_pws[N][LEN];
 
-    for (i = 0; i < Test->repl->N; i++)     // nodes
+    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
     {
-        for (j = 0; j < Test->repl->N; j++)     // users
+        sprintf(shard_dbs[i], shard_db_fmt, i);
+        sprintf(shard_tables[i], shard_table_fmt, i);
+        sprintf(user_names[i], user_name_fmt, i);
+        sprintf(user_pws[i], user_pw_fmt, i);
+    }
+
+    test.repl->execute_query_all_nodes("STOP SLAVE");
+    test.repl->connect();
+    test.set_timeout(30);
+
+    // On every node...
+    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
+    {
+        test.tprintf("\nNode %i:\n----------\n", i);
+        auto node = test.repl->nodes[i];
+        // for every user...
+        for (int j = 0; j < N; j++)     // users
         {
-            Test->set_timeout(30);
-            execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "DROP USER 'user%d'@'%%';", j);
-            execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "CREATE USER 'user%d'@'%%' IDENTIFIED BY 'pass%d';", j, j);
-            execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS shard_db");
+            // create users
+            auto user = user_names[j];
+            auto pass = user_pws[j];
+            if (test.try_query(node, "CREATE OR REPLACE USER '%s'@'%%' IDENTIFIED BY '%s';", user, pass) == 0)
+            {
+                test.tprintf("Created user '%s'.", user);
+            }
         }
 
-        execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS shard_db%d", i);
-        execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "CREATE DATABASE shard_db%d", i);
-    }
-    Test->stop_timeout();
+        auto shard_db = shard_dbs[i];
+        if (test.try_query(node, "CREATE OR REPLACE DATABASE %s", common_db) == 0
+            && test.try_query(node, "CREATE OR REPLACE DATABASE %s", shard_db) == 0)
+        {
+            test.tprintf("Created databases '%s' and '%s'.", common_db, shard_db);
+        }
 
-    for (i = 0; i < Test->repl->N; i++)     // nodes
-    {
-        Test->set_timeout(30);
-        Test->tprintf("Node %d\t", i);
-        Test->tprintf("Creating shard_db\t");
-        execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "CREATE DATABASE shard_db");
-        Test->add_result(execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i],
-                                       "GRANT SELECT,USAGE,CREATE ON shard_db.* TO 'user%d'@'%%'",
-                                       i),
-                         "Query should succeed.");
-        execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "FLUSH PRIVILEGES");
+        // Grant one user access to the common db on this node. Only the main test user has access to
+        // server-specific db:s.
+        test.try_query(node, "GRANT SELECT,USAGE,CREATE ON %s.* TO '%s'@'%%'", common_db, user_names[i]);
+        test.try_query(node, "FLUSH PRIVILEGES");
     }
+    test.tprintf("%s", "----------\n");
 
-    Test->repl->close_connections();
-    Test->stop_timeout();
-
-    MYSQL* conn;
-    for (i = 0; i < Test->repl->N; i++)
-    {
-        Test->set_timeout(30);
-        sprintf(user_str, "user%d", i);
-        sprintf(pass_str, "pass%d", i);
-        Test->tprintf("Open connection to Sharding router using %s %s\n", user_str, pass_str);
-        conn = open_conn_db(Test->maxscales->rwsplit_port[0],
-                            Test->maxscales->IP[0],
-                            (char*) "shard_db",
-                            user_str,
-                            pass_str,
-                            Test->ssl);
-        Test->add_result(execute_query(conn, "CREATE TABLE table%d (x1 int, fl int);", i),
-                         "Query should succeed.");
-    }
+    test.repl->close_connections();
+    test.stop_timeout();
     sleep(6); // The router is configured to refresh the shard map if older than 5 seconds.
 
-    for (i = 0; i < Test->repl->N; i++)
+    // Generate a table for each user on the common db. The tables should be on different backends since
+    // each user only has access to one node.
+    // Here, 'rwsplit_port' etc are actually ports to the schemarouter.
+    for (int i = 0; i < test.repl->N; i++)
     {
-        Test->set_timeout(30);
-        sprintf(user_str, "user%d", i);
-        sprintf(pass_str, "pass%d", i);
-        Test->tprintf("Open connection to Sharding router using %s %s\n", user_str, pass_str);
-        conn = open_conn_db(Test->maxscales->rwsplit_port[0],
-                            Test->maxscales->IP[0],
-                            (char*) "shard_db",
-                            user_str,
-                            pass_str,
-                            Test->ssl);
+        auto user = user_names[i];
+        auto pass = user_pws[i];
+        auto table = shard_tables[i];
 
-        sprintf(str, "SHOW TABLES;");
-        Test->tprintf("%s\n", str);
-        sprintf(str1, "table%d", i);
-        Test->tprintf("Table should be %s\n", str1);
-        Test->add_result(execute_query_check_one(conn, str, str1), "check failed\n");
-        mysql_ping(conn);
+        test.tprintf(opening_fmt, user, pass, common_db);
+        auto conn = open_conn_db(test.maxscales->rwsplit_port[0], test.maxscales->IP[0],
+                                   common_db, user, pass, test.ssl);
+        if (test.try_query(conn, "CREATE TABLE %s (x1 int, fl int);", table) == 0)
+        {
+            test.tprintf("Table '%s.%s' for user '%s' created.", common_db, table, user);
+        }
         mysql_close(conn);
     }
 
-    Test->maxscales->connect_rwsplit(0);
+    sleep(6); // Again, wait for shard info update.
 
-    Test->tprintf("Trying USE shard_db\n");
-    execute_query(Test->maxscales->conn_rwsplit[0], "USE shard_db");
-
-    for (i = 0; i < Test->repl->N; i++)
+    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
     {
-        Test->add_result(execute_query(Test->maxscales->conn_rwsplit[0], "USE shard_db%d", i),
-                         "Query should succeed.");
+        auto user = user_names[i];
+        auto pass = user_pws[i];
+        auto table = shard_tables[i];
+        test.tprintf(opening_fmt, user, pass, common_db);
+        auto conn = open_conn_db(test.maxscales->rwsplit_port[0], test.maxscales->IP[0],
+                                 common_db, user, pass, test.ssl);
+
+        const char* query = "SHOW TABLES;";
+        test.tprintf("Table should be %s\n", table);
+        test.add_result(execute_query_check_one(conn, query, table), "check failed\n");
+        mysql_close(conn);
     }
 
-    mysql_close(Test->maxscales->conn_rwsplit[0]);
-
-    Test->tprintf("Trying to connect with empty database name\n");
-    conn = open_conn_db(Test->maxscales->rwsplit_port[0],
-                        Test->maxscales->IP[0],
-                        (char*) "",
-                        user_str,
-                        pass_str,
-                        Test->ssl);
-    mysql_close(conn);
-
-    Test->stop_timeout();
-    Test->log_excludes(0, "Length (0) is 0");
-    Test->log_excludes(0, "Unable to parse query");
-    Test->log_excludes(0, "query string allocation failed");
-
-    Test->repl->connect();
-    /** Cleanup */
-    for (i = 0; i < Test->repl->N; i++)
+    // Test accessing all databases as the admin.
+    test.maxscales->connect_rwsplit(0);
+    auto conn = test.maxscales->conn_rwsplit[0]; // Is a schemarouter connection.
+    test.try_query(conn, "USE %s", common_db);
+    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
     {
-        for (j = 0; j < Test->repl->N; j++)
+        test.try_query(conn, "USE %s", shard_dbs[i]);
+    }
+    if (test.ok())
+    {
+        test.tprintf("%s", "All databases are present.");
+    }
+    test.maxscales->close_rwsplit(0);
+
+    test.tprintf("Test connecting with empty database name for all users.\n");
+    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
+    {
+        auto user = user_names[i];
+        auto pass = user_pws[i];
+        conn = open_conn_db(test.maxscales->rwsplit_port[0], test.maxscales->IP[0],
+                            "", user, pass, test.ssl);
+        test.expect(conn, "Connection failed for user '%s'.", user);
+        mysql_close(conn);
+    }
+    if (test.ok())
+    {
+        test.tprintf("Connections succeeded.");
+    }
+
+    test.stop_timeout();
+    test.log_excludes(0, "Length (0) is 0");
+    test.log_excludes(0, "Unable to parse query");
+    test.log_excludes(0, "query string allocation failed");
+
+    test.repl->connect();
+    /** Cleanup */
+    for (int i = 0; i < N; i++)
+    {
+        conn = test.repl->nodes[i];
+        for (int j = 0; j < N; j++)
         {
-            Test->set_timeout(30);
-            execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "DROP USER 'user%d'@'%%';", j);
-            execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS shard_db");
+            test.try_query(conn, "DROP USER '%s'@'%%';", user_names[j]);
         }
 
-        execute_query(Test->repl->nodes[i], "DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS shard_db%d", i);
+        test.try_query(conn, "DROP DATABASE %s", common_db);
+        test.try_query(conn, "DROP DATABASE %s", shard_dbs[i]);
     }
 
-    Test->repl->execute_query_all_nodes("START SLAVE");
-    sleep(1);
-    Test->repl->fix_replication();
-    int rval = Test->global_result;
-    delete Test;
-    return rval;
+    test.repl->execute_query_all_nodes("START SLAVE");
+    sleep(2);
+    test.repl->fix_replication();
+    return test.global_result;
 }