diff --git a/django_statsd/patches/__init__.py b/django_statsd/patches/__init__.py
index 36ef3ee..9bfa630 100644
--- a/django_statsd/patches/__init__.py
+++ b/django_statsd/patches/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,22 @@ from django.utils.importlib import import_module
 
 # Workaround for tests.
 try:
+    minimal = {
+        'DATABASES': {
+            'default': {
+                'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
+                'NAME': 'mydatabase'
+            }
+        },
+        'ROOT_URLCONF': '',
+        'STATSD_CLIENT': 'django_statsd.clients.null',
+        'STATSD_PREFIX': None,
+        'METLOG': None
+    }
+
+    if not settings.configured:
+        settings.configure(**minimal)
+
     patches = getattr(settings, 'STATSD_PATCHES', [])
 except ImportError:
     patches = []
diff --git a/django_statsd/tests.py b/django_statsd/tests.py
index 65e290e..d6df3b4 100644
--- a/django_statsd/tests.py
+++ b/django_statsd/tests.py
@@ -6,22 +6,6 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from nose.exc import SkipTest
 from nose import tools as nose_tools
 
-minimal = {
-    'DATABASES': {
-        'default': {
-            'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
-            'NAME': 'mydatabase'
-        }
-    },
-    'ROOT_URLCONF': '',
-    'STATSD_CLIENT': 'django_statsd.clients.null',
-    'STATSD_PREFIX': None,
-    'METLOG': None
-}
-
-if not settings.configured:
-    settings.configure(**minimal)
-
 from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse
 from django.http import HttpResponse, HttpResponseForbidden
 from django.test import TestCase