Looks like you can run rspec w/out hitting the database by doing the following: 1. Setting up a new rake task which does not have db:test:prepare as a dependency: namespace :spec do desc "Run the specs under spec/models without a database" Spec::Rake::SpecTask.new(:models_no_db) do |t| t.spec_opts = [''--options'', "\"#{RAILS_ROOT}/spec/spec.opts\""] t.spec_files = FileList[''spec/models/**/*_spec.rb''] end end 2. Calling an error on access the database with a new helper: ENV["RAILS_ENV"] = "test" require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../config/ environment") require ''spec/rails'' # Even if you''re using RSpec, RSpec on Rails is reusing some of the # Rails-specific extensions for fixtures and stubbed requests, response # and other things (via RSpec''s inherit mechanism). These extensions are # tightly coupled to Test::Unit in Rails, which is why you''re seeing it here. module Spec module Rails class ActiveRecord::Base def self.connection raise InvalidActionError, "You cannot access the database", caller end end end end class InvalidActionError < StandardError end The test database must still be set up in config/database.yml, and I believe it must also exist Should I also post this to the rspec rubyforge site? Best, Scott