diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7cefc2a2c3..160e28b822 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ default: fmt get update test lint
 GO       := go
 GOBIN    := $(shell pwd)/bin
 GOBUILD  := CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GO) build $(BUILD_FLAG)
-GOTEST   := $(GO) test -v -race -coverprofile=profile.out -covermode=atomic
+GOTEST   := $(GO) test -v -race -shuffle=on -coverprofile=profile.out -covermode=atomic
 
 FILES    := $(shell find . -name '*.go' -type f -not -name '*.pb.go' -not -name '*_generated.go' -not -name '*_test.go')
 TESTS    := $(shell find . -name '*.go' -type f -not -name '*.pb.go' -not -name '*_generated.go' -name '*_test.go')
diff --git a/async_producer_test.go b/async_producer_test.go
index d872f60262..9f524a4e54 100644
--- a/async_producer_test.go
+++ b/async_producer_test.go
@@ -2323,12 +2323,3 @@ ProducerLoop:
 
 	log.Printf("Successfully produced: %d; errors: %d\n", successes, producerErrors)
 }
-
-// NewTestConfig returns a config meant to be used by tests.
-// Due to inconsistencies with the request versions the clients send using the default Kafka version
-// and the response versions our mocks use, we default to the minimum Kafka version in most tests
-func NewTestConfig() *Config {
-	config := NewConfig()
-	config.Version = MinVersion
-	return config
-}
diff --git a/client_tls_test.go b/client_tls_test.go
index 8d7a51a33c..aa01d63a6a 100644
--- a/client_tls_test.go
+++ b/client_tls_test.go
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ func TestTLS(t *testing.T) {
 	} {
 		tc := tc
 		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
 			doListenerTLSTest(t, tc.Succeed, tc.Server, tc.Client)
 		})
 	}
diff --git a/config_test.go b/config_test.go
index 8fdd94de7a..9477e6bd9e 100644
--- a/config_test.go
+++ b/config_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,17 @@ import (
 	"github.com/rcrowley/go-metrics"
 )
 
+// NewTestConfig returns a config meant to be used by tests.
+// Due to inconsistencies with the request versions the clients send using the default Kafka version
+// and the response versions our mocks use, we default to the minimum Kafka version in most tests
+func NewTestConfig() *Config {
+	config := NewConfig()
+	config.Consumer.Retry.Backoff = 0
+	config.Producer.Retry.Backoff = 0
+	config.Version = MinVersion
+	return config
+}
+
 func TestDefaultConfigValidates(t *testing.T) {
 	config := NewTestConfig()
 	if err := config.Validate(); err != nil {
diff --git a/consumer_group_test.go b/consumer_group_test.go
index 85b8108e31..912b6aa4f3 100644
--- a/consumer_group_test.go
+++ b/consumer_group_test.go
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ func TestConsumerGroupNewSessionDuringOffsetLoad(t *testing.T) {
 	config.Version = V2_0_0_0
 	config.Consumer.Return.Errors = true
 	config.Consumer.Group.Rebalance.Retry.Max = 2
+	config.Consumer.Group.Rebalance.Retry.Backoff = 0
 	config.Consumer.Offsets.AutoCommit.Enable = false
 
 	broker0 := NewMockBroker(t, 0)
@@ -100,72 +101,46 @@ func TestConsumerGroupNewSessionDuringOffsetLoad(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestConsume_RaceTest(t *testing.T) {
-	const groupID = "test-group"
-	const topic = "test-topic"
-	const offsetStart = int64(1234)
+	const (
+		groupID     = "test-group"
+		topic       = "test-topic"
+		offsetStart = int64(1234)
+	)
 
-	cfg := NewConfig()
+	cfg := NewTestConfig()
 	cfg.Version = V2_8_1_0
 	cfg.Consumer.Return.Errors = true
+	cfg.Metadata.Full = true
 
 	seedBroker := NewMockBroker(t, 1)
-
-	joinGroupResponse := &JoinGroupResponse{}
-
-	syncGroupResponse := &SyncGroupResponse{
-		Version: 3, // sarama > 2.3.0.0 uses version 3
-	}
-	// Leverage mock response to get the MemberAssignment bytes
-	mockSyncGroupResponse := NewMockSyncGroupResponse(t).SetMemberAssignment(&ConsumerGroupMemberAssignment{
-		Version:  1,
-		Topics:   map[string][]int32{topic: {0}}, // map "test-topic" to partition 0
-		UserData: []byte{0x01},
-	})
-	syncGroupResponse.MemberAssignment = mockSyncGroupResponse.MemberAssignment
-
-	heartbeatResponse := &HeartbeatResponse{
-		Err: ErrNoError,
-	}
-	offsetFetchResponse := &OffsetFetchResponse{
-		Version:        1,
-		ThrottleTimeMs: 0,
-		Err:            ErrNoError,
-	}
-	offsetFetchResponse.AddBlock(topic, 0, &OffsetFetchResponseBlock{
-		Offset:      offsetStart,
-		LeaderEpoch: 0,
-		Metadata:    "",
-		Err:         ErrNoError,
-	})
-
-	offsetResponse := &OffsetResponse{
-		Version: 1,
-	}
-	offsetResponse.AddTopicPartition(topic, 0, offsetStart)
-
-	metadataResponse := new(MetadataResponse)
-	metadataResponse.Version = 10
-	metadataResponse.AddBroker(seedBroker.Addr(), seedBroker.BrokerID())
-	metadataResponse.AddTopic("mismatched-topic", ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition)
+	defer seedBroker.Close()
 
 	handlerMap := map[string]MockResponse{
 		"ApiVersionsRequest": NewMockApiVersionsResponse(t),
-		"MetadataRequest":    NewMockSequence(metadataResponse),
-		"OffsetRequest":      NewMockSequence(offsetResponse),
-		"OffsetFetchRequest": NewMockSequence(offsetFetchResponse),
-		"FindCoordinatorRequest": NewMockSequence(NewMockFindCoordinatorResponse(t).
-			SetCoordinator(CoordinatorGroup, groupID, seedBroker)),
-		"JoinGroupRequest": NewMockSequence(joinGroupResponse),
-		"SyncGroupRequest": NewMockSequence(syncGroupResponse),
-		"HeartbeatRequest": NewMockSequence(heartbeatResponse),
+		"MetadataRequest": NewMockMetadataResponse(t).
+			SetBroker(seedBroker.Addr(), seedBroker.BrokerID()).
+			SetError("mismatched-topic", ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition),
+		"OffsetRequest": NewMockOffsetResponse(t).
+			SetOffset(topic, 0, -1, offsetStart),
+		"OffsetFetchRequest": NewMockOffsetFetchResponse(t).
+			SetOffset(groupID, topic, 0, offsetStart, "", ErrNoError),
+		"FindCoordinatorRequest": NewMockFindCoordinatorResponse(t).
+			SetCoordinator(CoordinatorGroup, groupID, seedBroker),
+		"JoinGroupRequest": NewMockJoinGroupResponse(t),
+		"SyncGroupRequest": NewMockSyncGroupResponse(t).SetMemberAssignment(
+			&ConsumerGroupMemberAssignment{
+				Version:  1,
+				Topics:   map[string][]int32{topic: {0}}, // map "test-topic" to partition 0
+				UserData: []byte{0x01},
+			},
+		),
+		"HeartbeatRequest": NewMockHeartbeatResponse(t),
 	}
 	seedBroker.SetHandlerByMap(handlerMap)
 
-	cancelCtx, cancel := context.WithDeadline(context.Background(), time.Now().Add(4*time.Second))
-
-	defer seedBroker.Close()
+	cancelCtx, cancel := context.WithDeadline(context.Background(), time.Now().Add(time.Second))
 
-	retryWait := 20 * time.Millisecond
+	retryWait := 10 * time.Millisecond
 	var err error
 	clientRetries := 0
 outerFor:
@@ -195,8 +170,8 @@ outerFor:
 		t.Fatalf("should not proceed to Consume")
 	}
 
-	if clientRetries <= 0 {
-		t.Errorf("clientRetries = %v; want > 0", clientRetries)
+	if clientRetries <= 1 {
+		t.Errorf("clientRetries = %v; want > 1", clientRetries)
 	}
 
 	if err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.DeadlineExceeded) {
diff --git a/consumer_test.go b/consumer_test.go
index c8731a58ab..4096bdd734 100644
--- a/consumer_test.go
+++ b/consumer_test.go
@@ -860,7 +860,7 @@ func TestConsumeMessagesFromReadReplica(t *testing.T) {
 	block4 := fetchResponse4.GetBlock("my_topic", 0)
 	block4.PreferredReadReplica = -1
 
-	cfg := NewConfig()
+	cfg := NewTestConfig()
 	cfg.Version = V2_3_0_0
 	cfg.RackID = "consumer_rack"
 
@@ -925,7 +925,7 @@ func TestConsumeMessagesFromReadReplicaLeaderFallback(t *testing.T) {
 	block2 := fetchResponse2.GetBlock("my_topic", 0)
 	block2.PreferredReadReplica = -1
 
-	cfg := NewConfig()
+	cfg := NewTestConfig()
 	cfg.Version = V2_3_0_0
 	cfg.RackID = "consumer_rack"
 
@@ -981,7 +981,7 @@ func TestConsumeMessagesFromReadReplicaErrorReplicaNotAvailable(t *testing.T) {
 	fetchResponse4.AddMessage("my_topic", 0, nil, testMsg, 3)
 	fetchResponse4.AddMessage("my_topic", 0, nil, testMsg, 4)
 
-	cfg := NewConfig()
+	cfg := NewTestConfig()
 	cfg.Version = V2_3_0_0
 	cfg.RackID = "consumer_rack"
 
@@ -1051,7 +1051,7 @@ func TestConsumeMessagesFromReadReplicaErrorUnknown(t *testing.T) {
 	fetchResponse4.AddMessage("my_topic", 0, nil, testMsg, 3)
 	fetchResponse4.AddMessage("my_topic", 0, nil, testMsg, 4)
 
-	cfg := NewConfig()
+	cfg := NewTestConfig()
 	cfg.Version = V2_3_0_0
 	cfg.RackID = "consumer_rack"
 
@@ -1109,9 +1109,10 @@ func TestConsumeMessagesFromReadReplicaErrorUnknown(t *testing.T) {
 //
 // See https://github.com/IBM/sarama/issues/1927
 func TestConsumeMessagesTrackLeader(t *testing.T) {
-	cfg := NewConfig()
+	cfg := NewTestConfig()
 	cfg.ClientID = t.Name()
 	cfg.Metadata.RefreshFrequency = time.Millisecond * 50
+	cfg.Consumer.Retry.Backoff = 0
 	cfg.Net.MaxOpenRequests = 1
 	cfg.Version = V2_1_0_0
 
@@ -1996,7 +1997,7 @@ func Test_partitionConsumer_parseResponseEmptyBatch(t *testing.T) {
 		broker: &brokerConsumer{
 			broker: &Broker{},
 		},
-		conf:      NewConfig(),
+		conf:      NewTestConfig(),
 		topic:     "my_topic",
 		partition: 0,
 	}
diff --git a/mockbroker.go b/mockbroker.go
index 9b7682c9e4..8b73074fb3 100644
--- a/mockbroker.go
+++ b/mockbroker.go
@@ -178,7 +178,9 @@ func (b *MockBroker) serverLoop() {
 		i++
 	}
 	wg.Wait()
-	Logger.Printf("*** mockbroker/%d: listener closed, err=%v", b.BrokerID(), err)
+	if !isConnectionClosedError(err) {
+		Logger.Printf("*** mockbroker/%d: listener closed, err=%v", b.BrokerID(), err)
+	}
 }
 
 func (b *MockBroker) SetGSSAPIHandler(handler GSSApiHandlerFunc) {
@@ -243,8 +245,10 @@ func (b *MockBroker) handleRequests(conn io.ReadWriteCloser, idx int, wg *sync.W
 	for {
 		buffer, err := b.readToBytes(conn)
 		if err != nil {
-			Logger.Printf("*** mockbroker/%d/%d: invalid request: err=%+v, %+v", b.brokerID, idx, err, spew.Sdump(buffer))
-			b.serverError(err)
+			if !isConnectionClosedError(err) {
+				Logger.Printf("*** mockbroker/%d/%d: invalid request: err=%+v, %+v", b.brokerID, idx, err, spew.Sdump(buffer))
+				b.serverError(err)
+			}
 			break
 		}
 
@@ -253,8 +257,10 @@ func (b *MockBroker) handleRequests(conn io.ReadWriteCloser, idx int, wg *sync.W
 			req, br, err := decodeRequest(bytes.NewReader(buffer))
 			bytesRead = br
 			if err != nil {
-				Logger.Printf("*** mockbroker/%d/%d: invalid request: err=%+v, %+v", b.brokerID, idx, err, spew.Sdump(req))
-				b.serverError(err)
+				if !isConnectionClosedError(err) {
+					Logger.Printf("*** mockbroker/%d/%d: invalid request: err=%+v, %+v", b.brokerID, idx, err, spew.Sdump(req))
+					b.serverError(err)
+				}
 				break
 			}
 
@@ -358,22 +364,25 @@ func (b *MockBroker) defaultRequestHandler(req *request) (res encoderWithHeader)
 	}
 }
 
-func (b *MockBroker) serverError(err error) {
-	b.t.Helper()
-	isConnectionClosedError := false
+func isConnectionClosedError(err error) bool {
+	var result bool
 	opError := &net.OpError{}
 	if errors.As(err, &opError) {
-		isConnectionClosedError = true
+		result = true
 	} else if errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
-		isConnectionClosedError = true
+		result = true
 	} else if err.Error() == "use of closed network connection" {
-		isConnectionClosedError = true
+		result = true
 	}
 
-	if isConnectionClosedError {
+	return result
+}
+
+func (b *MockBroker) serverError(err error) {
+	b.t.Helper()
+	if isConnectionClosedError(err) {
 		return
 	}
-
 	b.t.Errorf(err.Error())
 }
 
diff --git a/mockresponses.go b/mockresponses.go
index bd2902b1d3..07a636740a 100644
--- a/mockresponses.go
+++ b/mockresponses.go
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ func (m *MockDescribeGroupsResponse) For(reqBody versionedDecoder) encoderWithHe
 // MockMetadataResponse is a `MetadataResponse` builder.
 type MockMetadataResponse struct {
 	controllerID int32
+	errors       map[string]KError
 	leaders      map[string]map[int32]int32
 	brokers      map[string]int32
 	t            TestReporter
@@ -142,12 +143,18 @@ type MockMetadataResponse struct {
 
 func NewMockMetadataResponse(t TestReporter) *MockMetadataResponse {
 	return &MockMetadataResponse{
+		errors:  make(map[string]KError),
 		leaders: make(map[string]map[int32]int32),
 		brokers: make(map[string]int32),
 		t:       t,
 	}
 }
 
+func (mmr *MockMetadataResponse) SetError(topic string, kerror KError) *MockMetadataResponse {
+	mmr.errors[topic] = kerror
+	return mmr
+}
+
 func (mmr *MockMetadataResponse) SetLeader(topic string, partition, brokerID int32) *MockMetadataResponse {
 	partitions := mmr.leaders[topic]
 	if partitions == nil {
@@ -191,10 +198,22 @@ func (mmr *MockMetadataResponse) For(reqBody versionedDecoder) encoderWithHeader
 				metadataResponse.AddTopicPartition(topic, partition, brokerID, replicas, replicas, offlineReplicas, ErrNoError)
 			}
 		}
+		for topic, err := range mmr.errors {
+			metadataResponse.AddTopic(topic, err)
+		}
 		return metadataResponse
 	}
 	for _, topic := range metadataRequest.Topics {
-		for partition, brokerID := range mmr.leaders[topic] {
+		leaders, ok := mmr.leaders[topic]
+		if !ok {
+			if err, ok := mmr.errors[topic]; ok {
+				metadataResponse.AddTopic(topic, err)
+			} else {
+				metadataResponse.AddTopic(topic, ErrUnknownTopicOrPartition)
+			}
+			continue
+		}
+		for partition, brokerID := range leaders {
 			metadataResponse.AddTopicPartition(topic, partition, brokerID, replicas, replicas, offlineReplicas, ErrNoError)
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/mocks/async_producer_test.go b/mocks/async_producer_test.go
index f132290676..69510d1446 100644
--- a/mocks/async_producer_test.go
+++ b/mocks/async_producer_test.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func TestProducerWithTooManyExpectations(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestProducerFailTxn(t *testing.T) {
-	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config := NewTestConfig()
 	config.Producer.Transaction.ID = "test"
 	config.Producer.RequiredAcks = sarama.WaitForAll
 	config.Producer.Retry.Backoff = 0
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func TestProducerFailTxn(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestProducerWithTxn(t *testing.T) {
-	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config := NewTestConfig()
 	config.Producer.Transaction.ID = "test"
 	config.Producer.RequiredAcks = sarama.WaitForAll
 	config.Producer.Retry.Backoff = 0
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ func TestProducerWithCheckerFunction(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestProducerWithBrokenPartitioner(t *testing.T) {
 	trm := newTestReporterMock()
-	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config := NewTestConfig()
 	config.Producer.Partitioner = func(string) sarama.Partitioner {
 		return brokePartitioner{}
 	}
diff --git a/mocks/mocks.go b/mocks/mocks.go
index fa95952295..bd9d630ddb 100644
--- a/mocks/mocks.go
+++ b/mocks/mocks.go
@@ -103,6 +103,8 @@ func (pc *TopicConfig) partitions(topic string) int32 {
 // and the response versions our mocks use, we default to the minimum Kafka version in most tests
 func NewTestConfig() *sarama.Config {
 	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config.Consumer.Retry.Backoff = 0
+	config.Producer.Retry.Backoff = 0
 	config.Version = sarama.MinVersion
 	return config
 }
diff --git a/mocks/sync_producer_test.go b/mocks/sync_producer_test.go
index f141edebb5..fb6f058bc4 100644
--- a/mocks/sync_producer_test.go
+++ b/mocks/sync_producer_test.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func TestSyncProducerReturnsExpectationsToSendMessage(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestSyncProducerFailTxn(t *testing.T) {
-	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config := NewTestConfig()
 	config.Producer.Transaction.ID = "test"
 	config.Producer.RequiredAcks = sarama.WaitForAll
 	config.Producer.Retry.Backoff = 0
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func TestSyncProducerFailTxn(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestSyncProducerUseTxn(t *testing.T) {
-	config := sarama.NewConfig()
+	config := NewTestConfig()
 	config.Producer.Transaction.ID = "test"
 	config.Producer.RequiredAcks = sarama.WaitForAll
 	config.Producer.Retry.Backoff = 0
diff --git a/sarama_test.go b/sarama_test.go
index 5e3d7ba9b0..5ab84cf236 100644
--- a/sarama_test.go
+++ b/sarama_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 func TestMain(m *testing.M) {
 	flag.Parse()
 	if f := flag.Lookup("test.v"); f != nil && f.Value.String() == "true" {
-		Logger = log.New(os.Stderr, "[Sarama] ", log.LstdFlags)
+		Logger = log.New(os.Stderr, "[DEBUG] ", log.Lmicroseconds|log.Ltime)
 	}
 	os.Exit(m.Run())
 }