diff --git a/selfdrive/athena/tests/helpers.py b/selfdrive/athena/tests/helpers.py
index 34edeb2de5..5aca899cc2 100644
--- a/selfdrive/athena/tests/helpers.py
+++ b/selfdrive/athena/tests/helpers.py
@@ -1,12 +1,7 @@
 import http.server
-import random
-import requests
+import threading
 import socket
-import time
 from functools import wraps
-from multiprocessing import Process
-
-from openpilot.common.timeout import Timeout
 
 
 class MockResponse:
@@ -101,30 +96,23 @@ class HTTPRequestHandler(http.server.SimpleHTTPRequestHandler):
     self.end_headers()
 
 
-def with_http_server(func):
+def with_http_server(func, handler=http.server.BaseHTTPRequestHandler, setup=None):
   @wraps(func)
   def inner(*args, **kwargs):
-    with Timeout(2, 'HTTP Server did not start'):
-      p = None
-      host = '127.0.0.1'
-      while p is None or p.exitcode is not None:
-        port = random.randrange(40000, 50000)
-        p = Process(target=http.server.test,
-                    kwargs={'port': port, 'HandlerClass': HTTPRequestHandler, 'bind': host})
-        p.start()
-        time.sleep(0.1)
-
-    with Timeout(2, 'HTTP Server seeding failed'):
-      while True:
-        try:
-          requests.put(f'http://{host}:{port}/qlog.bz2', data='', timeout=10)
-          break
-        except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
-          time.sleep(0.1)
+    host = '127.0.0.1'
+    server = http.server.HTTPServer((host, 0), handler)
+    port = server.server_port
+    t = threading.Thread(target=server.serve_forever)
+    t.start()
+
+    if setup is not None:
+      setup(host, port)
 
     try:
       return func(*args, f'http://{host}:{port}', **kwargs)
     finally:
-      p.terminate()
+      server.shutdown()
+      server.server_close()
+      t.join()
 
   return inner
diff --git a/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad.py b/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad.py
index a562ae8582..8f6372ec84 100755
--- a/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad.py
+++ b/selfdrive/athena/tests/test_athenad.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
+from functools import partial
 import json
 import multiprocessing
 import os
@@ -17,11 +18,27 @@ from unittest import mock
 from websocket import ABNF
 from websocket._exceptions import WebSocketConnectionClosedException
 
+from cereal import messaging
+
+from openpilot.common.timeout import Timeout
 from openpilot.selfdrive.athena import athenad
 from openpilot.selfdrive.athena.athenad import MAX_RETRY_COUNT, dispatcher
 from openpilot.selfdrive.athena.tests.helpers import MockWebsocket, MockParams, MockApi, EchoSocket, with_http_server
-from cereal import messaging
 from openpilot.system.hardware.hw import Paths
+from openpilot.selfdrive.athena.tests.helpers import HTTPRequestHandler
+
+
+def seed_athena_server(host, port):
+  with Timeout(2, 'HTTP Server seeding failed'):
+    while True:
+      try:
+        requests.put(f'http://{host}:{port}/qlog.bz2', data='', timeout=10)
+        break
+      except requests.exceptions.ConnectionError:
+        time.sleep(0.1)
+
+
+with_mock_athena = partial(with_http_server, handler=HTTPRequestHandler, setup=seed_athena_server)
 
 
 class TestAthenadMethods(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -138,7 +155,7 @@ class TestAthenadMethods(unittest.TestCase):
       self.assertEqual(athenad.strip_bz2_extension(fn), fn[:-4])
 
   @parameterized.expand([(True,), (False,)])
-  @with_http_server
+  @with_mock_athena
   def test_do_upload(self, compress, host):
     # random bytes to ensure rather large object post-compression
     fn = self._create_file('qlog', data=os.urandom(10000 * 1024))
@@ -152,7 +169,7 @@ class TestAthenadMethods(unittest.TestCase):
     resp = athenad._do_upload(item)
     self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 201)
 
-  @with_http_server
+  @with_mock_athena
   def test_uploadFileToUrl(self, host):
     fn = self._create_file('qlog.bz2')
 
@@ -163,7 +180,7 @@ class TestAthenadMethods(unittest.TestCase):
     self.assertIsNotNone(resp['items'][0].get('id'))
     self.assertEqual(athenad.upload_queue.qsize(), 1)
 
-  @with_http_server
+  @with_mock_athena
   def test_uploadFileToUrl_duplicate(self, host):
     self._create_file('qlog.bz2')
 
@@ -175,12 +192,12 @@ class TestAthenadMethods(unittest.TestCase):
     resp = dispatcher["uploadFileToUrl"]("qlog.bz2", url2, {})
     self.assertEqual(resp, {'enqueued': 0, 'items': []})
 
-  @with_http_server
+  @with_mock_athena
   def test_uploadFileToUrl_does_not_exist(self, host):
     not_exists_resp = dispatcher["uploadFileToUrl"]("does_not_exist.bz2", "http://localhost:1238", {})
     self.assertEqual(not_exists_resp, {'enqueued': 0, 'items': [], 'failed': ['does_not_exist.bz2']})
 
-  @with_http_server
+  @with_mock_athena
   def test_upload_handler(self, host):
     fn = self._create_file('qlog.bz2')
     item = athenad.UploadItem(path=fn, url=f"{host}/qlog.bz2", headers={}, created_at=int(time.time()*1000), id='', allow_cellular=True)
@@ -199,7 +216,7 @@ class TestAthenadMethods(unittest.TestCase):
     finally:
       end_event.set()
 
-  @with_http_server
+  @with_mock_athena
   @mock.patch('requests.put')
   def test_upload_handler_retry(self, host, mock_put):
     for status, retry in ((500, True), (412, False)):