diff --git a/Library/.rubocop_rspec.yml b/Library/.rubocop_rspec.yml
index 6b72706d06..5a47d33451 100644
--- a/Library/.rubocop_rspec.yml
+++ b/Library/.rubocop_rspec.yml
@@ -35,3 +35,7 @@ RSpec/NestedGroups:
   Max: 5
 RSpec/MultipleMemoizedHelpers:
   Max: 12
+
+# Annoying to have these autoremoved.
+RSpec/Focus:
+  AutoCorrect: false
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/tests.rb b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/tests.rb
index ef58dd8bd7..6725bd3f48 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/tests.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/dev-cmd/tests.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ module Homebrew
       ENV.delete("HOMEBREW_NO_COLOR")
       ENV.delete("HOMEBREW_VERBOSE")
       ENV.delete("HOMEBREW_DEBUG")
-      ENV.delete("VERBOSE")
       ENV.delete("HOMEBREW_CASK_OPTS")
       ENV.delete("HOMEBREW_TEMP")
       ENV.delete("HOMEBREW_NO_GITHUB_API")
@@ -68,6 +67,9 @@ module Homebrew
       # to use GPG to sign by default
       ENV["HOME"] = "#{HOMEBREW_LIBRARY_PATH}/test"
 
+      # Print verbose output when requesting debug or verbose output.
+      ENV["HOMEBREW_VERBOSE_TESTS"] = "1" if args.debug? || args.verbose?
+
       if args.coverage?
         ENV["HOMEBREW_TESTS_COVERAGE"] = "1"
         FileUtils.rm_f "test/coverage/.resultset.json"
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/cleanup_spec.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/cleanup_spec.rb
index f8c363ad44..bdff8c4f7a 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/cleanup_spec.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/cleanup_spec.rb
@@ -199,11 +199,8 @@ describe Homebrew::Cleanup do
   describe "::cleanup_logs" do
     let(:path) { (HOMEBREW_LOGS/"delete_me") }
 
-    before do
-      path.mkpath
-    end
-
     it "cleans all logs if prune is 0" do
+      path.mkpath
       described_class.new(days: 0).cleanup_logs
       expect(path).not_to exist
     end
@@ -211,6 +208,7 @@ describe Homebrew::Cleanup do
     it "cleans up logs if older than 30 days" do
       allow_any_instance_of(Pathname).to receive(:ctime).and_return(31.days.ago)
       allow_any_instance_of(Pathname).to receive(:mtime).and_return(31.days.ago)
+      path.mkpath
       subject.cleanup_logs
       expect(path).not_to exist
     end
@@ -218,6 +216,7 @@ describe Homebrew::Cleanup do
     it "does not clean up logs less than 30 days old" do
       allow_any_instance_of(Pathname).to receive(:ctime).and_return(15.days.ago)
       allow_any_instance_of(Pathname).to receive(:mtime).and_return(15.days.ago)
+      path.mkpath
       subject.cleanup_logs
       expect(path).to exist
     end
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb b/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb
index 1a4bf7e1a4..df5a9906d3 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/test/spec_helper.rb
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
   if ENV["CI"]
     config.verbose_retry = true
     config.display_try_failure_messages = true
+    config.default_retry_count = 2
+    config.default_sleep_interval = 1
 
     config.around(:each, :integration_test) do |example|
       example.metadata[:timeout] ||= 120
@@ -88,7 +90,10 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
 
     config.around(:each, :needs_network) do |example|
       example.metadata[:timeout] ||= 120
-      example.run_with_retry retry: 5, retry_wait: 5
+      example.metadata[:retry] ||= 4
+      example.metadata[:retry_wait] ||= 2
+      example.metadata[:exponential_backoff] ||= true
+      example.run
     end
   end
 
@@ -196,7 +201,7 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
     @__stderr = $stderr.clone
 
     begin
-      if (example.metadata.keys & [:focus, :byebug]).empty? && !ENV.key?("VERBOSE_TESTS")
+      if (example.metadata.keys & [:focus, :byebug]).empty? && !ENV.key?("HOMEBREW_VERBOSE_TESTS")
         $stdout.reopen(File::NULL)
         $stderr.reopen(File::NULL)
       end