diff --git a/src/analyze/analyze-verify.c b/src/analyze/analyze-verify.c
index 0ce0276d92..375b457ae8 100644
--- a/src/analyze/analyze-verify.c
+++ b/src/analyze/analyze-verify.c
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ int verify_units(char **filenames, UnitFileScope scope, bool check_man) {
 
         assert_se(set_unit_path(var) >= 0);
 
-        r = manager_new(scope, true, &m);
+        r = manager_new(scope, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_ENV_GENERATORS, &m);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to initialize manager: %m");
 
diff --git a/src/core/cgroup.c b/src/core/cgroup.c
index 94a4f9ae29..c806d6b7cb 100644
--- a/src/core/cgroup.c
+++ b/src/core/cgroup.c
@@ -1813,7 +1813,7 @@ int manager_setup_cgroup(Manager *m) {
                         log_debug("Using cgroup controller " SYSTEMD_CGROUP_CONTROLLER_LEGACY ". File system hierarchy is at %s.", path);
         }
 
-        if (!m->test_run) {
+        if (!m->test_run_flags) {
                 const char *scope_path;
 
                 /* 3. Install agent */
diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index d1a53a57fd..fbf8876a2d 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -1817,7 +1817,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                         (void) bump_rlimit_nofile(&saved_rlimit_nofile);
         }
 
-        r = manager_new(arg_system ? UNIT_FILE_SYSTEM : UNIT_FILE_USER, arg_action == ACTION_TEST, &m);
+        r = manager_new(arg_system ? UNIT_FILE_SYSTEM : UNIT_FILE_USER,
+                        arg_action == ACTION_TEST ? MANAGER_TEST_FULL : 0,
+                        &m);
         if (r < 0) {
                 log_emergency_errno(r, "Failed to allocate manager object: %m");
                 error_message = "Failed to allocate manager object";
diff --git a/src/core/manager.c b/src/core/manager.c
index 5bfb74be9d..46036aa50c 100644
--- a/src/core/manager.c
+++ b/src/core/manager.c
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ static int manager_setup_time_change(Manager *m) {
         assert(m);
         assert_cc(sizeof(time_t) == sizeof(TIME_T_MAX));
 
-        if (m->test_run)
+        if (m->test_run_flags)
                 return 0;
 
         /* Uses TFD_TIMER_CANCEL_ON_SET to get notifications whenever
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ static int enable_special_signals(Manager *m) {
 
         assert(m);
 
-        if (m->test_run)
+        if (m->test_run_flags)
                 return 0;
 
         /* Enable that we get SIGINT on control-alt-del. In containers
@@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ static int manager_setup_prefix(Manager *m) {
         return 0;
 }
 
-int manager_new(UnitFileScope scope, bool test_run, Manager **_m) {
+int manager_new(UnitFileScope scope, unsigned test_run_flags, Manager **_m) {
         Manager *m;
         int r;
 
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ int manager_new(UnitFileScope scope, bool test_run, Manager **_m) {
         m->have_ask_password = -EINVAL; /* we don't know */
         m->first_boot = -1;
 
-        m->test_run = test_run;
+        m->test_run_flags = test_run_flags;
 
         /* Reboot immediately if the user hits C-A-D more often than 7x per 2s */
         RATELIMIT_INIT(m->ctrl_alt_del_ratelimit, 2 * USEC_PER_SEC, 7);
@@ -731,7 +731,7 @@ fail:
 static int manager_setup_notify(Manager *m) {
         int r;
 
-        if (m->test_run)
+        if (m->test_run_flags)
                 return 0;
 
         if (m->notify_fd < 0) {
@@ -811,7 +811,7 @@ static int manager_setup_cgroups_agent(Manager *m) {
          * to it. The system instance hence listens on this special socket, but the user instances listen on the system
          * bus for these messages. */
 
-        if (m->test_run)
+        if (m->test_run_flags)
                 return 0;
 
         if (!MANAGER_IS_SYSTEM(m))
@@ -925,7 +925,7 @@ static int manager_connect_bus(Manager *m, bool reexecuting) {
 
         assert(m);
 
-        if (m->test_run)
+        if (m->test_run_flags)
                 return 0;
 
         u = manager_get_unit(m, SPECIAL_DBUS_SERVICE);
@@ -1313,7 +1313,7 @@ int manager_startup(Manager *m, FILE *serialization, FDSet *fds) {
         /* If we are running in test mode, we still want to run the generators,
          * but we should not touch the real generator directories. */
         r = lookup_paths_init(&m->lookup_paths, m->unit_file_scope,
-                              m->test_run ? LOOKUP_PATHS_TEMPORARY_GENERATED : 0,
+                              m->test_run_flags ? LOOKUP_PATHS_TEMPORARY_GENERATED : 0,
                               NULL);
         if (r < 0)
                 return r;
@@ -1336,7 +1336,7 @@ int manager_startup(Manager *m, FILE *serialization, FDSet *fds) {
 
         if (m->first_boot > 0 &&
             m->unit_file_scope == UNIT_FILE_SYSTEM &&
-            !m->test_run) {
+            !m->test_run_flags) {
 
                 q = unit_file_preset_all(UNIT_FILE_SYSTEM, 0, NULL, UNIT_FILE_PRESET_ENABLE_ONLY, NULL, 0);
                 if (q < 0)
@@ -3003,7 +3003,7 @@ static void manager_notify_finished(Manager *m) {
         char userspace[FORMAT_TIMESPAN_MAX], initrd[FORMAT_TIMESPAN_MAX], kernel[FORMAT_TIMESPAN_MAX], sum[FORMAT_TIMESPAN_MAX];
         usec_t firmware_usec, loader_usec, kernel_usec, initrd_usec, userspace_usec, total_usec;
 
-        if (m->test_run)
+        if (m->test_run_flags)
                 return;
 
         if (MANAGER_IS_SYSTEM(m) && detect_container() <= 0) {
@@ -3148,6 +3148,9 @@ static int manager_run_environment_generators(Manager *m) {
         const char **paths;
         void* args[] = {&tmp, &tmp, &m->environment};
 
+        if (m->test_run_flags && !(m->test_run_flags & MANAGER_TEST_RUN_ENV_GENERATORS))
+                return 0;
+
         paths = MANAGER_IS_SYSTEM(m) ? system_env_generator_binary_paths : user_env_generator_binary_paths;
 
         if (!generator_path_any(paths))
@@ -3163,6 +3166,9 @@ static int manager_run_generators(Manager *m) {
 
         assert(m);
 
+        if (m->test_run_flags && !(m->test_run_flags & MANAGER_TEST_RUN_GENERATORS))
+                return 0;
+
         paths = generator_binary_paths(m->unit_file_scope);
         if (!paths)
                 return log_oom();
diff --git a/src/core/manager.h b/src/core/manager.h
index 8d621da4e1..713d2db70c 100644
--- a/src/core/manager.h
+++ b/src/core/manager.h
@@ -74,6 +74,15 @@ typedef enum StatusType {
 #include "show-status.h"
 #include "unit-name.h"
 
+enum {
+        /* 0 = run normally */
+        MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL = 1,        /* run test w/o generators */
+        MANAGER_TEST_RUN_ENV_GENERATORS = 2, /* also run env generators  */
+        MANAGER_TEST_RUN_GENERATORS = 4,     /* also run unit generators */
+        MANAGER_TEST_FULL = MANAGER_TEST_RUN_ENV_GENERATORS | MANAGER_TEST_RUN_GENERATORS,
+};
+assert_cc((MANAGER_TEST_FULL & UINT8_MAX) == MANAGER_TEST_FULL);
+
 struct Manager {
         /* Note that the set of units we know of is allowed to be
          * inconsistent. However the subset of it that is loaded may
@@ -238,7 +247,8 @@ struct Manager {
         bool dispatching_dbus_queue:1;
 
         bool taint_usr:1;
-        bool test_run:1;
+
+        unsigned test_run_flags:8;
 
         /* If non-zero, exit with the following value when the systemd
          * process terminate. Useful for containers: systemd-nspawn could get
@@ -326,7 +336,7 @@ struct Manager {
 
 #define MANAGER_IS_RELOADING(m) ((m)->n_reloading > 0)
 
-int manager_new(UnitFileScope scope, bool test_run, Manager **m);
+int manager_new(UnitFileScope scope, unsigned test_run_flags, Manager **m);
 Manager* manager_free(Manager *m);
 
 void manager_enumerate(Manager *m);
diff --git a/src/test/test-cgroup-mask.c b/src/test/test-cgroup-mask.c
index 4a13d710dc..15d76bddda 100644
--- a/src/test/test-cgroup-mask.c
+++ b/src/test/test-cgroup-mask.c
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ static int test_cgroup_mask(void) {
         /* Prepare the manager. */
         assert_se(set_unit_path(get_testdata_dir("")) >= 0);
         assert_se(runtime_dir = setup_fake_runtime_dir());
-        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, true, &m);
+        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL, &m);
         if (r == -EPERM || r == -EACCES) {
                 puts("manager_new: Permission denied. Skipping test.");
                 return EXIT_TEST_SKIP;
diff --git a/src/test/test-engine.c b/src/test/test-engine.c
index b5d3da0d38..6916f838d4 100644
--- a/src/test/test-engine.c
+++ b/src/test/test-engine.c
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         /* prepare the test */
         assert_se(set_unit_path(get_testdata_dir("")) >= 0);
         assert_se(runtime_dir = setup_fake_runtime_dir());
-        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, true, &m);
+        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL, &m);
         if (MANAGER_SKIP_TEST(r)) {
                 log_notice_errno(r, "Skipping test: manager_new: %m");
                 return EXIT_TEST_SKIP;
diff --git a/src/test/test-execute.c b/src/test/test-execute.c
index 9d1dcfc58e..a38efc7cba 100644
--- a/src/test/test-execute.c
+++ b/src/test/test-execute.c
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ static int run_tests(UnitFileScope scope, const test_function_t *tests) {
 
         assert_se(tests);
 
-        r = manager_new(scope, true, &m);
+        r = manager_new(scope, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL, &m);
         if (MANAGER_SKIP_TEST(r)) {
                 log_notice_errno(r, "Skipping test: manager_new: %m");
                 return EXIT_TEST_SKIP;
diff --git a/src/test/test-path.c b/src/test/test-path.c
index 6fc3f79d80..c1915017df 100644
--- a/src/test/test-path.c
+++ b/src/test/test-path.c
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ static int setup_test(Manager **m) {
 
         enter_cgroup_subroot();
 
-        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, true, &tmp);
+        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL, &tmp);
         if (MANAGER_SKIP_TEST(r)) {
                 log_notice_errno(r, "Skipping test: manager_new: %m");
                 return -EXIT_TEST_SKIP;
diff --git a/src/test/test-sched-prio.c b/src/test/test-sched-prio.c
index 062a02baf5..9bed4b3832 100644
--- a/src/test/test-sched-prio.c
+++ b/src/test/test-sched-prio.c
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         /* prepare the test */
         assert_se(set_unit_path(get_testdata_dir("")) >= 0);
         assert_se(runtime_dir = setup_fake_runtime_dir());
-        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, true, &m);
+        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL, &m);
         if (MANAGER_SKIP_TEST(r)) {
                 log_notice_errno(r, "Skipping test: manager_new: %m");
                 return EXIT_TEST_SKIP;
diff --git a/src/test/test-unit-file.c b/src/test/test-unit-file.c
index df2d9593e8..578e09447f 100644
--- a/src/test/test-unit-file.c
+++ b/src/test/test-unit-file.c
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ static void test_config_parse_exec(void) {
         Manager *m = NULL;
         Unit *u = NULL;
 
-        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, true, &m);
+        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL, &m);
         if (MANAGER_SKIP_TEST(r)) {
                 log_notice_errno(r, "Skipping test: manager_new: %m");
                 return;
diff --git a/src/test/test-unit-name.c b/src/test/test-unit-name.c
index dcccc9080c..1992357e1b 100644
--- a/src/test/test-unit-name.c
+++ b/src/test/test-unit-name.c
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ static int test_unit_printf(void) {
         assert_se(get_home_dir(&home) >= 0);
         assert_se(get_shell(&shell) >= 0);
 
-        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, true, &m);
+        r = manager_new(UNIT_FILE_USER, MANAGER_TEST_RUN_MINIMAL, &m);
         if (MANAGER_SKIP_TEST(r)) {
                 log_notice_errno(r, "Skipping test: manager_new: %m");
                 return EXIT_TEST_SKIP;