diff --git a/test/integration/client/heroku-pgpass-tests.js b/test/integration/client/heroku-pgpass-tests.js
index c03792333..578342f13 100644
--- a/test/integration/client/heroku-pgpass-tests.js
+++ b/test/integration/client/heroku-pgpass-tests.js
@@ -22,15 +22,18 @@ var config = {
   ssl: true
 };
 
-// connect & disconnect from heroku
-pg.connect(config, assert.success(function(client, done) {
-  client.query('SELECT NOW() as time', assert.success(function(res) {
-    assert(res.rows[0].time.getTime());
-
-    // cleanup ... remove the env variable
-    delete process.env.PGPASSFILE;
-
-    done();
-    pg.end();
-  }))
-}));
+test('uses password file when PGPASSFILE env variable is set', function() {
+  // connect & disconnect from heroku
+  pg.connect(config, assert.calls(function(err, client, done) {
+    assert.isNull(err);
+    client.query('SELECT NOW() as time', assert.success(function(res) {
+      assert(res.rows[0].time.getTime());
+
+      // cleanup ... remove the env variable
+      delete process.env.PGPASSFILE;
+
+      done();
+      pg.end();
+    }))
+  }));
+});
diff --git a/test/integration/client/heroku-ssl-tests.js b/test/integration/client/heroku-ssl-tests.js
index 5b6b87da7..f0f700741 100644
--- a/test/integration/client/heroku-ssl-tests.js
+++ b/test/integration/client/heroku-ssl-tests.js
@@ -15,11 +15,14 @@ var config = {
   ssl: true
 };
 
-//connect & disconnect from heroku
-pg.connect(config, assert.success(function(client, done) {
-  client.query('SELECT NOW() as time', assert.success(function(res) {
-    assert(res.rows[0].time.getTime());
-    done();
-    pg.end();
-  }))
-}));
+test('connection with config ssl = true', function() {
+  //connect & disconnect from heroku
+  pg.connect(config, assert.calls(function(err, client, done) {
+    assert.isNull(err);
+    client.query('SELECT NOW() as time', assert.success(function(res) {
+      assert(res.rows[0].time.getTime());
+      done();
+      pg.end();
+    }))
+  }));
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/test-helper.js b/test/test-helper.js
index 757b200b4..acd092b4c 100644
--- a/test/test-helper.js
+++ b/test/test-helper.js
@@ -133,9 +133,14 @@ assert.lengthIs = function(actual, expectedLength) {
 
 var expect = function(callback, timeout) {
   var executed = false;
+  timeout = timeout || parseInt(process.env.TEST_TIMEOUT) || 5000;
   var id = setTimeout(function() {
-    assert.ok(executed, "Expected execution of function to be fired");
-  }, timeout || 5000)
+    assert.ok(executed,
+      "Expected execution of function to be fired within " + timeout
+      + " milliseconds " +
+      + " (hint: export TEST_TIMEOUT=<timeout in milliseconds>"
+      + " to change timeout globally)");
+  }, timeout)
 
   if(callback.length < 3) {
     return function(err, queryResult) {