diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala
index 9d4307e8e711f..34078142f5385 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/TestUtils.scala
@@ -107,19 +107,4 @@ private[spark] object TestUtils {
     assert(out.exists(), "Destination file not moved: " + out.getAbsolutePath())
     out
   }
-
-  /** Allows system properties to be changed in tests */
-  def withSystemProperty[T](property: String, value: String)(block: => T): T = {
-    val originalValue = System.getProperty(property)
-    try {
-      System.setProperty(property, value)
-      block
-    } finally {
-      if (originalValue == null) {
-        System.clearProperty(property)
-      } else {
-        System.setProperty(property, originalValue)
-      }
-    }
-  }
 }
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/ShuffleSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/ShuffleSuite.scala
index 5c75e7866944b..f57921b768310 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/ShuffleSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/ShuffleSuite.scala
@@ -35,16 +35,15 @@ abstract class ShuffleSuite extends FunSuite with Matchers with LocalSparkContex
   conf.set("spark.test.noStageRetry", "true")
 
   test("groupByKey without compression") {
-    TestUtils.withSystemProperty("spark.shuffle.compress", "false") {
-      sc = new SparkContext("local", "test", conf)
-      val pairs = sc.parallelize(Array((1, 1), (1, 2), (1, 3), (2, 1)), 4)
-      val groups = pairs.groupByKey(4).collect()
-      assert(groups.size === 2)
-      val valuesFor1 = groups.find(_._1 == 1).get._2
-      assert(valuesFor1.toList.sorted === List(1, 2, 3))
-      val valuesFor2 = groups.find(_._1 == 2).get._2
-      assert(valuesFor2.toList.sorted === List(1))
-    }
+    val myConf = conf.clone().set("spark.shuffle.compress", "false")
+    sc = new SparkContext("local", "test", myConf)
+    val pairs = sc.parallelize(Array((1, 1), (1, 2), (1, 3), (2, 1)), 4)
+    val groups = pairs.groupByKey(4).collect()
+    assert(groups.size === 2)
+    val valuesFor1 = groups.find(_._1 == 1).get._2
+    assert(valuesFor1.toList.sorted === List(1, 2, 3))
+    val valuesFor2 = groups.find(_._1 == 2).get._2
+    assert(valuesFor2.toList.sorted === List(1))
   }
 
   test("shuffle non-zero block size") {
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContextSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContextSuite.scala
index 085f538c766d2..10dd8cc4d572a 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContextSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContextSuite.scala
@@ -17,46 +17,44 @@
 
 package org.apache.spark
 
+import org.apache.spark.util.ResetSystemProperties
 import org.scalatest.FunSuite
 
 import org.apache.hadoop.io.BytesWritable
 
-class SparkContextSuite extends FunSuite with LocalSparkContext {
+class SparkContextSuite extends FunSuite with ResetSystemProperties with LocalSparkContext {
 
   test("Only one SparkContext may be active at a time") {
     // Regression test for SPARK-4180
-    TestUtils.withSystemProperty("spark.driver.allowMultipleContexts", "false") {
-      val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("test").setMaster("local")
-      sc = new SparkContext(conf)
-      // A SparkContext is already running, so we shouldn't be able to create a second one
-      intercept[SparkException] { new SparkContext(conf) }
-      // After stopping the running context, we should be able to create a new one
-      resetSparkContext()
-      sc = new SparkContext(conf)
-    }
+    System.setProperty("spark.driver.allowMultipleContexts", "false")
+    val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("test").setMaster("local")
+    sc = new SparkContext(conf)
+    // A SparkContext is already running, so we shouldn't be able to create a second one
+    intercept[SparkException] { new SparkContext(conf) }
+    // After stopping the running context, we should be able to create a new one
+    resetSparkContext()
+    sc = new SparkContext(conf)
   }
 
   test("Can still construct a new SparkContext after failing to construct a previous one") {
-    TestUtils.withSystemProperty("spark.driver.allowMultipleContexts", "false") {
-      // This is an invalid configuration (no app name or master URL)
-      intercept[SparkException] {
-        new SparkContext(new SparkConf())
-      }
-      // Even though those earlier calls failed, we should still be able to create a new context
-      sc = new SparkContext(new SparkConf().setMaster("local").setAppName("test"))
+    System.setProperty("spark.driver.allowMultipleContexts", "false")
+    // This is an invalid configuration (no app name or master URL)
+    intercept[SparkException] {
+      new SparkContext(new SparkConf())
     }
+    // Even though those earlier calls failed, we should still be able to create a new context
+    sc = new SparkContext(new SparkConf().setMaster("local").setAppName("test"))
   }
 
   test("Check for multiple SparkContexts can be disabled via undocumented debug option") {
-    TestUtils.withSystemProperty("spark.driver.allowMultipleContexts", "true") {
-      var secondSparkContext: SparkContext = null
-      try {
-        val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("test").setMaster("local")
-        sc = new SparkContext(conf)
-        secondSparkContext = new SparkContext(conf)
-      } finally {
-        Option(secondSparkContext).foreach(_.stop())
-      }
+    System.setProperty("spark.driver.allowMultipleContexts", "true")
+    var secondSparkContext: SparkContext = null
+    try {
+      val conf = new SparkConf().setAppName("test").setMaster("local")
+      sc = new SparkContext(conf)
+      secondSparkContext = new SparkContext(conf)
+    } finally {
+      Option(secondSparkContext).foreach(_.stop())
     }
   }