diff --git a/helix-term/tests/test/helpers.rs b/helix-term/tests/test/helpers.rs
index a2d53e9d8..e8bd6c35e 100644
--- a/helix-term/tests/test/helpers.rs
+++ b/helix-term/tests/test/helpers.rs
@@ -143,9 +143,27 @@ pub async fn test_key_sequence_with_input_text<T: Into<TestCase>>(
 
 /// Generates language configs that merge in overrides, like a user language
 /// config. The argument string must be a raw TOML document.
+///
+/// By default, language server configuration is dropped from the languages.toml
+/// document. If a language-server is necessary for a test, it must be explicitly
+/// added in `overrides`.
 pub fn test_syntax_conf(overrides: Option<String>) -> helix_core::syntax::Configuration {
     let mut lang = helix_loader::config::default_lang_config();
 
+    for lang_config in lang
+        .as_table_mut()
+        .expect("Expected languages.toml to be a table")
+        .get_mut("language")
+        .expect("Expected languages.toml to have \"language\" keys")
+        .as_array_mut()
+        .expect("Expected an array of language configurations")
+    {
+        lang_config
+            .as_table_mut()
+            .expect("Expected language config to be a TOML table")
+            .remove("language-server");
+    }
+
     if let Some(overrides) = overrides {
         let override_toml = toml::from_str(&overrides).unwrap();
         lang = helix_loader::merge_toml_values(lang, override_toml, 3);
@@ -236,7 +254,6 @@ pub fn new_readonly_tempfile() -> anyhow::Result<NamedTempFile> {
     Ok(file)
 }
 
-#[derive(Default)]
 pub struct AppBuilder {
     args: Args,
     config: Config,
@@ -244,6 +261,17 @@ pub struct AppBuilder {
     input: Option<(String, Selection)>,
 }
 
+impl Default for AppBuilder {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            args: Args::default(),
+            config: Config::default(),
+            syn_conf: test_syntax_conf(None),
+            input: None,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl AppBuilder {
     pub fn new() -> Self {
         AppBuilder::default()