diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/CMakeLists.txt b/maxscale-system-test/CMakeLists.txt
index dde0ea387..3d68494b6 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #     BREAKS_REPL
 #     BREAKS_GALERA
 set(CTEST_BUILD_NAME "${BUILDNAME}")
+set(CNF_TEMPLATES "" CACHE INTERNAL "")
 
 # utilities.cmake contains all helper functions and extra tools
 include(utilities.cmake)
@@ -24,9 +25,6 @@ include_directories(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/connectors/cdc-connector)
 include_directories(${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
 # Include the CDC connector headers
 include_directories(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/../connectors/cdc-connector/)
-
-# The core testing library
-add_subdirectory(maxtest)
 include_directories(maxtest/include/maxtest)
 
 # Tool used to check backend state
@@ -1225,4 +1223,6 @@ add_test_executable(clustrix_distribution.cpp clustrix_distribution clustrix_dis
 # DO NOT ADD TESTS AFTER THIS #
 ###############################
 
-configure_file(templates.h.in ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/templates.h @ONLY)
+# The core testing library
+configure_file(maxtest/src/test_info.cc.in maxtest/src/test_info.cc @ONLY)
+add_subdirectory(maxtest)
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/test_dir.hh b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/test_dir.hh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4c9a37dbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/test_dir.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#pragma once
+/** This is the working directory for all tests */
+extern const char* test_dir;
+
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/test_info.hh b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/test_info.hh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7eb5ad61a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/test_info.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#pragma once
+#include "test_dir.hh"
+
+struct TestDefinition
+{
+    const char* name;
+    const char* config_template;
+    const char* labels;
+};
+
+extern const TestDefinition* test_definitions;
+
+/** The default template to use */
+extern const char* default_template;
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/testconnections.h b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/testconnections.h
index 694bb474c..35274e067 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/testconnections.h
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/include/maxtest/testconnections.h
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 #include "mariadb_nodes.h"
 #include "clustrix_nodes.h"
 #include "maxscales.h"
-#include "templates.h"
+#include "test_dir.hh"
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
 #include <sys/time.h>
@@ -749,7 +749,7 @@ std::string dump_status(const StringSet& current, const StringSet& expected);
  * @param labels pointer to string for storing all test labels
  * @return Name of maxscale.cnf file template
  */
-const char *get_template_name(char * test_name, const char **labels);
+const char* get_template_name(char* test_name, const char**labels);
 
 /**
  * @brief readenv_and_set_default Read enviromental variable and set default values if
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/CMakeLists.txt b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/CMakeLists.txt
index d805ede44..5c3a61c18 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ add_library(maxtest SHARED
         tcp_connection.cpp
         test_binlog_fnc.cpp
         testconnections.cpp
+        ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/test_info.cc
         # Include the CDC connector in the core library
         ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/connectors/cdc-connector/cdc_connector.cpp)
 
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/mariadb_func.cpp b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/mariadb_func.cpp
index 8a0ade2e9..34ca954b8 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/mariadb_func.cpp
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/mariadb_func.cpp
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 
 #include "mariadb_func.h"
-#include "templates.h"
+#include "test_dir.hh"
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <sstream>
 
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/test_info.cc.in b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/test_info.cc.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed4947e58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/test_info.cc.in
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#include "test_info.hh"
+
+const TestDefinition test_definitions_arr[] =
+{
+@CNF_TEMPLATES@{nullptr, nullptr, nullptr}
+};
+
+const TestDefinition* test_definitions = test_definitions_arr;
+const char* default_template = "replication";
+const char* test_dir = "@CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR@";
+
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/testconnections.cpp b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/testconnections.cpp
index 337c0e2ee..7c5ae3c42 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/testconnections.cpp
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/maxtest/src/testconnections.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "maxadmin_operations.h"
 #include "sql_t1.h"
 #include "testconnections.h"
+#include "test_info.hh"
 #include "labels_table.h"
 #include "envv.h"
 
@@ -288,7 +289,7 @@ TestConnections::TestConnections(int argc, char* argv[])
         test_name = basename(argv[0]);
     }
 
-    const char * labels_string = NULL;
+    const char* labels_string = "";
     template_name = get_template_name(test_name, &labels_string);
     tprintf("testname: '%s', template: '%s'", test_name, template_name);
     labels = strstr(labels_string, "LABELS;");
@@ -761,25 +762,31 @@ void TestConnections::print_env()
     }
 }
 
-const char * get_template_name(char * test_name, const char ** labels)
+const char* get_template_name(char* test_name, const char** labels)
 {
-    int i = 0;
-    *labels = NULL;
-    while (cnf_templates[i].test_name && strcmp(cnf_templates[i].test_name, test_name) != 0)
+    const TestDefinition* found = nullptr;
+    for (int i = 0; test_definitions[i].name; i++)
     {
-        i++;
+        auto* test = &test_definitions[i];
+        if (strcmp(test->name, test_name) == 0)
+        {
+            found = test;
+            break;
+        }
     }
 
-    if (cnf_templates[i].test_name)
+    if (found)
     {
-        *labels = (char *) cnf_templates[i].test_labels;
-        return cnf_templates[i].test_template;
+        *labels = found->labels;
+        return found->config_template;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        printf("Failed to find configuration template for test '%s', using default template '%s'.\n",
+               test_name, default_template);
+        return default_template;
     }
 
-    printf("Failed to find configuration template for test '%s', using default template '%s'.\n",
-           test_name,
-           default_template);
-    return default_template;
 }
 
 void TestConnections::process_template(int m, const char* template_name, const char* dest)
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh
index ec6a1fc93..450d8518b 100755
--- a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/run_test.sh
@@ -103,7 +103,9 @@ fi
 if [ ! -z "${named_test}" ] ; then
     eval ${named_test}
 else
-    ctest -VV ${test_set}
+    eval "arguments=(${test_set})"
+    ctest -N "${arguments[@]}"
+    ctest -VV "${arguments[@]}"
 fi
 
 if [[ "$name" =~ '-gcov' ]]
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/templates/default.json.template b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/templates/default.json.template
index 8ccf66d12..2853513d2 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/templates/default.json.template
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/mdbci/templates/default.json.template
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node000",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node001",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -37,6 +39,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node002",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node003",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -69,6 +73,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node004",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -85,6 +90,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node005",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -101,6 +107,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node006",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -117,6 +124,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node007",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -132,7 +140,9 @@
   {
         "hostname" : "node008",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -149,6 +159,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node009",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -165,6 +176,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node010",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -181,6 +193,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node011",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -197,6 +210,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node012",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -213,6 +227,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node013",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -229,6 +244,7 @@
         "hostname" : "node013",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "BIG_REPL_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -245,6 +261,7 @@
         "hostname" : "galera000",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "GALERA_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -261,6 +278,7 @@
         "hostname" : "galera001",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "GALERA_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -277,6 +295,7 @@
         "hostname" : "galera002",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "GALERA_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -293,6 +312,7 @@
         "hostname" : "galera003",
         "box" : "${backend_box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "GALERA_BACKEND"
         ],
@@ -309,6 +329,7 @@
         "hostname" : "maxscale",
         "box" : "${box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "MAXSCALE"
         ],
@@ -324,6 +345,7 @@
         "hostname" : "maxscale2",
         "box" : "${box}",
         "memory_size" : "${vm_memory}",
+        "cpu_count" : "8",
         "labels" : [
                 "SECOND_MAXSCALE"
         ],
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/templates.h.in b/maxscale-system-test/templates.h.in
deleted file mode 100644
index 0caabb8c8..000000000
--- a/maxscale-system-test/templates.h.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef TEMPLATES_H
-#define TEMPLATES_H
-
-static struct
-{
-    const char* test_name;
-    const char* test_template;
-    const char* test_labels;
-} cnf_templates[] __attribute__((unused)) = {
-@CNF_TEMPLATES@ {NULL, NULL, NULL}};
-
-/** The default template to use */
-static const char * default_template __attribute__((unused)) = "replication";
-
-/** This is the working directory for all tests */
-static const char *test_dir __attribute__((unused)) = "@CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR@";
-
-#endif
diff --git a/maxscale-system-test/utilities.cmake b/maxscale-system-test/utilities.cmake
index d64984920..09e6a4a62 100644
--- a/maxscale-system-test/utilities.cmake
+++ b/maxscale-system-test/utilities.cmake
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 
 # Helper function to add a configuration template
 function(add_template name template labels)
-  set(CNF_TEMPLATES "${CNF_TEMPLATES}{\"${name}\",\"${template}\", \"${labels}\"}," CACHE INTERNAL "")
+  set(CNF_TEMPLATES "${CNF_TEMPLATES}{\"${name}\", \"${template}\", \"${labels}\"}," CACHE INTERNAL "")
 endfunction()