diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8987e9763..f31297ab0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,12 +1,26 @@
+UNAME := $(shell sh -c 'uname')
+
+ifeq ($(UNAME), Darwin)
+	export ADVERTISED_HOST := $(shell sh -c 'boot2docker ip')
+endif
+ifeq ($(UNAME), Linux)
+	export ADVERTISED_HOST := localhost
+endif
+
 prepare:
 	go get -d -v -t ./...
-	docker-compose up -d --no-recreate
+
+docker-compose:
+	docker-compose up -d
+
+test: prepare docker-compose
+	go test -v ./...
 
 test-short: prepare
-	go test -short ./...
+	go test -v -short ./...
 
-test: prepare
-	go test ./...
+test-cleanup:
+	docker-compose kill
 
 update:
 	go get -u -v -d -t ./...
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f4f49376c..1ce405f15 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -181,29 +181,29 @@ func init() {
 
 ## Testing
 
-As Telegraf collects metrics from several third-party services it becomes a difficult task to mock each service as
-some of them have complicated protocols which would take some time to replicate. 
-
-To overcome this situation we've decided to use docker containers to provide a fast and reproducible environment
-to test those services which require it. For other situations (i.e: https://github.com/influxdb/telegraf/blob/master/plugins/redis/redis_test.go ) a simple mock will suffice.
-
-To execute Telegraf tests follow these simple steps:
-
-- Install docker compose following [these](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) instructions
-    - NOTE: mac users should be able to simply do `brew install boot2docker` and `brew install docker-compose`
-
 ### Execute short tests:
 
 execute `make short-test`
 
 ### Execute long tests:
-These tests requre additional docker containers, such as for kafka
 
-Mac:
-execute ``ADVERTISED_HOST=`boot2docker ip` make test``
+As Telegraf collects metrics from several third-party services it becomes a
+difficult task to mock each service as some of them have complicated protocols
+which would take some time to replicate.
 
-Linux:
-execute `ADVERTISED_HOST=localhost make test`
+To overcome this situation we've decided to use docker containers to provide a
+fast and reproducible environment to test those services which require it.
+For other situations
+(i.e: https://github.com/influxdb/telegraf/blob/master/plugins/redis/redis_test.go )
+a simple mock will suffice.
+
+To execute Telegraf tests follow these simple steps:
+
+- Install docker compose following [these](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/) instructions
+    - NOTE: mac users should be able to simply do `brew install boot2docker`
+      and `brew install docker-compose`
+
+execute `make test`
 
 ### Unit test troubleshooting:
 
diff --git a/circle.yml b/circle.yml
index 83cbd1d4c..d505706f7 100644
--- a/circle.yml
+++ b/circle.yml
@@ -19,5 +19,6 @@ test:
     - golint .
     - golint testutil/...
     - golint cmd/...
-    # TODO run unit tests
-    # - go test -short ./...
+    # Run short unit tests
+    - go test -v -short ./...
+    # TODO run full unit test suite
diff --git a/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go b/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go
index 522fc7bc7..501fed1b9 100644
--- a/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go
+++ b/plugins/memcached/memcached_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestMemcachedGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	m := &Memcached{
 		Servers: []string{testutil.GetLocalHost()},
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go b/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go
index e29e2e12e..b4c29146e 100644
--- a/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go
+++ b/plugins/mysql/mysql_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestMysqlGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	m := &Mysql{
 		Servers: []string{fmt.Sprintf("root@tcp(%s:3306)/", testutil.GetLocalHost())},
 	}
@@ -54,6 +58,10 @@ func TestMysqlGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestMysqlDefaultsToLocal(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	m := &Mysql{
 		Servers: []string{fmt.Sprintf("root@tcp(%s:3306)/", testutil.GetLocalHost())},
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go b/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go
index f9fb2b98e..363d289f9 100644
--- a/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go
+++ b/plugins/postgresql/postgresql_test.go
@@ -10,10 +10,15 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestPostgresqlGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	p := &Postgresql{
 		Servers: []*Server{
 			{
-				Address:   fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable", testutil.GetLocalHost()),
+				Address: fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable",
+					testutil.GetLocalHost()),
 				Databases: []string{"postgres"},
 			},
 		},
@@ -55,10 +60,15 @@ func TestPostgresqlGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPostgresqlTagsMetricsWithDatabaseName(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	p := &Postgresql{
 		Servers: []*Server{
 			{
-				Address:   fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable", testutil.GetLocalHost()),
+				Address: fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable",
+					testutil.GetLocalHost()),
 				Databases: []string{"postgres"},
 			},
 		},
@@ -76,10 +86,15 @@ func TestPostgresqlTagsMetricsWithDatabaseName(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestPostgresqlDefaultsToAllDatabases(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	p := &Postgresql{
 		Servers: []*Server{
 			{
-				Address: fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable", testutil.GetLocalHost()),
+				Address: fmt.Sprintf("host=%s user=postgres sslmode=disable",
+					testutil.GetLocalHost()),
 			},
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/redis/redis_test.go b/plugins/redis/redis_test.go
index 3e9915393..adf38ef75 100644
--- a/plugins/redis/redis_test.go
+++ b/plugins/redis/redis_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestRedisGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	l, err := net.Listen("tcp", ":0")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -103,6 +107,10 @@ func TestRedisGeneratesMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestRedisCanPullStatsFromMultipleServers(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
+	}
+
 	l, err := net.Listen("tcp", ":0")
 	require.NoError(t, err)