diff --git a/.changeset/giant-snakes-watch.md b/.changeset/giant-snakes-watch.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..553518b678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/giant-snakes-watch.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/backend-test-utils': patch
+---
+
+Skip running docker tests unless in CI
diff --git a/packages/backend-test-utils/src/database/TestDatabases.ts b/packages/backend-test-utils/src/database/TestDatabases.ts
index a7b08cd593..ab5846d84d 100644
--- a/packages/backend-test-utils/src/database/TestDatabases.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-test-utils/src/database/TestDatabases.ts
@@ -56,7 +56,11 @@ export class TestDatabases {
       disableDocker: isDockerDisabledForTests(),
     };
 
-    const { ids, disableDocker } = Object.assign(defaultOptions, options ?? {});
+    const { ids, disableDocker } = Object.assign(
+      {},
+      defaultOptions,
+      options ?? {},
+    );
 
     const supportedIds = ids.filter(id => {
       const properties = allDatabases[id];
diff --git a/packages/backend-test-utils/src/util/isDockerDisabledForTests.ts b/packages/backend-test-utils/src/util/isDockerDisabledForTests.ts
index 60d27bc154..4aeea59c50 100644
--- a/packages/backend-test-utils/src/util/isDockerDisabledForTests.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-test-utils/src/util/isDockerDisabledForTests.ts
@@ -15,5 +15,13 @@
  */
 
 export function isDockerDisabledForTests() {
-  return Boolean(process.env.BACKSTAGE_TEST_DISABLE_DOCKER);
+  // If we are not running in continuous integration, the default is to skip
+  // the (relatively heavy, long running) docker based tests. If you want to
+  // still run local tests for all databases, just pass either the CI=1 env
+  // parameter to your test runner, or individual connection strings per
+  // database.
+  return (
+    Boolean(process.env.BACKSTAGE_TEST_DISABLE_DOCKER) ||
+    !Boolean(process.env.CI)
+  );
 }