diff --git a/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs b/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs
index d390ef3ed..9a9606019 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Specs/Bindings/OrchardSiteFactory.cs
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ namespace Orchard.Specs.Bindings {
                         descriptor.Features.Concat(new[] { new ShellFeature { Name = name } }),
                         descriptor.Parameters);
                 }
+
+                // this is needed to force the tenant to restart when a new feature is enabled,
+                // as DefaultOrchardHost maintains this list in a thread context otherwise
+                // and looses the information
+                MvcApplication.RestartTenant("Default");
             });
 
         }
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Specs/Hosting/Orchard.Web/Global.asax.cs b/src/Orchard.Specs/Hosting/Orchard.Web/Global.asax.cs
index 8883c0064..985a7b3cc 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Specs/Hosting/Orchard.Web/Global.asax.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Specs/Hosting/Orchard.Web/Global.asax.cs
@@ -40,14 +40,24 @@ namespace Orchard.Specs.Hosting.Orchard.Web {
             builder.Register(ctx => RouteTable.Routes).SingleInstance();
             builder.Register(ctx => ModelBinders.Binders).SingleInstance();
             builder.Register(ctx => ViewEngines.Engines).SingleInstance();
-
-            builder.RegisterType<SpecHostEnvironment>().As<IHostEnvironment>();
         }
 
         public static void ReloadExtensions() {
             _host.ReloadExtensions();
         }
 
+        public static void RestartTenant(string name) {
+            var settings = _container.Resolve<IShellSettingsManager>().LoadSettings().SingleOrDefault(x => x.Name == name);
+            if (settings == null) {
+                settings = new ShellSettings {
+                    Name = name,
+                    State = TenantState.Uninitialized
+                };
+            }
+
+            ((DefaultOrchardHost)_host).ActivateShell(settings);
+        }
+
         public static IWorkContextScope CreateStandaloneEnvironment(string name) {
             var settings = _container.Resolve<IShellSettingsManager>().LoadSettings().SingleOrDefault(x => x.Name == name);
             if (settings == null) {
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Specs/Hosting/SpecHostEnvironment.cs b/src/Orchard.Specs/Hosting/SpecHostEnvironment.cs
deleted file mode 100644
index ab6f25383..000000000
--- a/src/Orchard.Specs/Hosting/SpecHostEnvironment.cs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-using Orchard.Environment;
-
-namespace Orchard.Specs.Hosting {
-    public class SpecHostEnvironment : HostEnvironment {
-        public SpecHostEnvironment() {
-        }
-
-        public override void RestartAppDomain() {
-            // do nothing
-        }
-    }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Specs/Orchard.Specs.csproj b/src/Orchard.Specs/Orchard.Specs.csproj
index e76362fd5..7f5448a3b 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Specs/Orchard.Specs.csproj
+++ b/src/Orchard.Specs/Orchard.Specs.csproj
@@ -171,7 +171,6 @@
       <AutoGen>True</AutoGen>
       <DesignTime>True</DesignTime>
     </Compile>
-    <Compile Include="Hosting\SpecHostEnvironment.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Input.feature.cs">
       <DependentUpon>Input.feature</DependentUpon>
       <AutoGen>True</AutoGen>