diff --git a/src/Core/AppKernel.php b/src/Core/AppKernel.php
index 6d39b67de..792ceafd6 100644
--- a/src/Core/AppKernel.php
+++ b/src/Core/AppKernel.php
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ class AppKernel extends CoreKernel
 
         // Config loader
         // @todo refactor CoreConfigFactory
-        $configFactory = new CoreConfigFactory($manifestCacheFactory, $this->getEnvironment());
+        $configFactory = new CoreConfigFactory($manifestCacheFactory);
         $configManifest = $configFactory->createRoot();
         $configLoader = ConfigLoader::inst();
         $configLoader->pushManifest($configManifest);
@@ -76,17 +76,17 @@ class AppKernel extends CoreKernel
 
     public function getEnvironment()
     {
+        // Check set
+        if ($this->enviroment) {
+            return $this->enviroment;
+        }
+
         // Check saved session
         $env = $this->sessionEnvironment();
         if ($env) {
             return $env;
         }
 
-        // Check set
-        if ($this->enviroment) {
-            return $this->enviroment;
-        }
-
         // Check getenv
         if ($env = getenv('SS_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE')) {
             return $env;
diff --git a/src/Core/Config/CoreConfigFactory.php b/src/Core/Config/CoreConfigFactory.php
index 338d8193d..88e1343c3 100644
--- a/src/Core/Config/CoreConfigFactory.php
+++ b/src/Core/Config/CoreConfigFactory.php
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ use SilverStripe\Config\Transformer\YamlTransformer;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Cache\CacheFactory;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Config\Middleware\ExtensionMiddleware;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Config\Middleware\InheritanceMiddleware;
+use SilverStripe\Core\Injector\Injector;
+use SilverStripe\Core\Kernel;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Manifest\ClassLoader;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Manifest\ModuleLoader;
 use Symfony\Component\Finder\Finder;
@@ -25,14 +27,13 @@ class CoreConfigFactory
     protected $cacheFactory = null;
 
     /**
-     * @var string
+     * Create factory
+     *
+     * @param CacheFactory $cacheFactory
      */
-    protected $environment = null;
-
-    public function __construct(CacheFactory $cacheFactory, $environment)
+    public function __construct(CacheFactory $cacheFactory = null)
     {
         $this->cacheFactory = $cacheFactory;
-        $this->environment = $environment;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -47,10 +48,12 @@ class CoreConfigFactory
         $instance = new CachedConfigCollection();
 
         // Create config cache
-        $cache = $this->cacheFactory->create(CacheInterface::class.'.configcache', [
-            'namespace' => 'configcache'
-        ]);
-        $instance->setCache($cache);
+        if ($this->cacheFactory) {
+            $cache = $this->cacheFactory->create(CacheInterface::class . '.configcache', [
+                'namespace' => 'configcache'
+            ]);
+            $instance->setCache($cache);
+        }
 
         // Set collection creator
         $instance->setCollectionCreator(function () {
@@ -162,7 +165,11 @@ class CoreConfigFactory
                 }
             )
             ->addRule('environment', function ($env) {
-                return strtolower($this->environment) === strtolower($env);
+                // Note: The below relies on direct assignment of kernel to injector instance,
+                // and will fail if failing back to config service locator
+                /** @var Kernel $kernel */
+                $kernel = Injector::inst()->get(Kernel::class);
+                return strtolower($kernel->getEnvironment()) === strtolower($env);
             })
             ->addRule('moduleexists', function ($module) {
                 return ModuleLoader::inst()->getManifest()->moduleExists($module);
diff --git a/src/Core/TestKernel.php b/src/Core/TestKernel.php
index 6ef7433b4..b19551463 100644
--- a/src/Core/TestKernel.php
+++ b/src/Core/TestKernel.php
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ class TestKernel extends AppKernel
 {
     public function __construct($flush = true)
     {
-        parent::__construct($flush);
         $this->setEnvironment(self::DEV);
+        parent::__construct($flush);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassLoaderTest.php b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassLoaderTest.php
index cb82edbf9..1525fdc3b 100644
--- a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassLoaderTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassLoaderTest.php
@@ -36,10 +36,12 @@ class ClassLoaderTest extends SapphireTest
     {
         parent::setUp();
 
-        $this->baseManifest1 = dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/classmanifest';
-        $this->baseManifest2 = dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/classmanifest_other';
-        $this->testManifest1 = new ClassManifest($this->baseManifest1, false);
-        $this->testManifest2 = new ClassManifest($this->baseManifest2, false);
+        $this->baseManifest1 = __DIR__ . '/fixtures/classmanifest';
+        $this->baseManifest2 = __DIR__ . '/fixtures/classmanifest_other';
+        $this->testManifest1 = new ClassManifest($this->baseManifest1);
+        $this->testManifest2 = new ClassManifest($this->baseManifest2);
+        $this->testManifest1->init();
+        $this->testManifest2->init();
     }
 
     public function testExclusive()
diff --git a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassManifestTest.php b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassManifestTest.php
index 7ed2f3b26..f1549ca5c 100644
--- a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassManifestTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ClassManifestTest.php
@@ -32,8 +32,10 @@ class ClassManifestTest extends SapphireTest
         parent::setUp();
 
         $this->base = dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/classmanifest';
-        $this->manifest      = new ClassManifest($this->base, false);
-        $this->manifestTests = new ClassManifest($this->base, true);
+        $this->manifest      = new ClassManifest($this->base);
+        $this->manifest->init(false);
+        $this->manifestTests = new ClassManifest($this->base);
+        $this->manifestTests->init(true);
     }
 
     public function testGetItemPath()
@@ -155,6 +157,7 @@ class ClassManifestTest extends SapphireTest
     public function testManifestWarnsAboutDuplicateClasses()
     {
         $this->expectException(Exception::class);
-        new ClassManifest(dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/classmanifest_duplicates', false);
+        $manifest = new ClassManifest(dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/classmanifest_duplicates');
+        $manifest->init();
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ConfigManifestTest.php b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ConfigManifestTest.php
index 5c71cc3d8..5d619d183 100644
--- a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ConfigManifestTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ConfigManifestTest.php
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ namespace SilverStripe\Core\Tests\Manifest;
 
 use Dotenv\Loader;
 use SilverStripe\Config\Collections\MemoryConfigCollection;
-use SilverStripe\Control\Director;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Config\CoreConfigFactory;
+use SilverStripe\Core\Injector\Injector;
+use SilverStripe\Core\Kernel;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Manifest\ModuleLoader;
 use SilverStripe\Core\Manifest\ModuleManifest;
 use SilverStripe\Dev\SapphireTest;
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ class ConfigManifestTest extends SapphireTest
         parent::setUp();
 
         $moduleManifest = new ModuleManifest(dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/configmanifest');
+        $moduleManifest->init();
         ModuleLoader::inst()->pushManifest($moduleManifest);
     }
 
@@ -45,7 +47,8 @@ class ConfigManifestTest extends SapphireTest
     public function getTestConfig()
     {
         $config = new MemoryConfigCollection();
-        $transformer = CoreConfigFactory::inst()->buildYamlTransformerForPath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/configmanifest');
+        $factory = new CoreConfigFactory();
+        $transformer = $factory->buildYamlTransformerForPath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/configmanifest');
         $config->transform([$transformer]);
         return $config;
     }
@@ -173,8 +176,10 @@ class ConfigManifestTest extends SapphireTest
 
     public function testEnvironmentRules()
     {
+        /** @var Kernel $kernel */
+        $kernel = Injector::inst()->get(Kernel::class);
         foreach (array('dev', 'test', 'live') as $env) {
-            Director::set_environment_type($env);
+            $kernel->setEnvironment($env);
             $config = $this->getConfigFixtureValue('Environment');
 
             foreach (array('dev', 'test', 'live') as $check) {
diff --git a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ModuleManifestTest.php b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ModuleManifestTest.php
index 2bdefa5f5..01d36f062 100644
--- a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ModuleManifestTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ModuleManifestTest.php
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 <?php
 
-
 namespace SilverStripe\Core\Tests\Manifest;
 
 use SilverStripe\Core\Manifest\ModuleManifest;
@@ -23,7 +22,8 @@ class ModuleManifestTest extends SapphireTest
         parent::setUp();
 
         $this->base = dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/classmanifest';
-        $this->manifest = new ModuleManifest($this->base, false);
+        $this->manifest = new ModuleManifest($this->base);
+        $this->manifest->init();
     }
 
     public function testGetModules()
diff --git a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/NamespacedClassManifestTest.php b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/NamespacedClassManifestTest.php
index 482474a7e..83c5d36eb 100644
--- a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/NamespacedClassManifestTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/NamespacedClassManifestTest.php
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ class NamespacedClassManifestTest extends SapphireTest
         parent::setUp();
 
         $this->base = dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/namespaced_classmanifest';
-        $this->manifest = new ClassManifest($this->base, false);
+        $this->manifest = new ClassManifest($this->base);
+        $this->manifest->init();
         ClassLoader::inst()->pushManifest($this->manifest, false);
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ThemeResourceLoaderTest.php b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ThemeResourceLoaderTest.php
index 41e974b81..41ddff23c 100644
--- a/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ThemeResourceLoaderTest.php
+++ b/tests/php/Core/Manifest/ThemeResourceLoaderTest.php
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ class ThemeResourceLoaderTest extends SapphireTest
         // Fake project root
         $this->base = dirname(__FILE__) . '/fixtures/templatemanifest';
         // New ThemeManifest for that root
-        $this->manifest = new ThemeManifest($this->base, 'myproject', false);
+        $this->manifest = new ThemeManifest($this->base, 'myproject');
+        $this->manifest->init();
         // New Loader for that root
         $this->loader = new ThemeResourceLoader($this->base);
         $this->loader->addSet('$default', $this->manifest);