diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index dc68ed7dbc884ebfa1215fc3fdb9207790d1b1f5..6028862ea5145d9084a6fedb341eac3aadad192e 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ test-default-deployment:
   needs:
     - test-frontend
   script:
+    - "make teardown"
     - "rm -f .env"
     - "docker compose up -d || docker compose down"
   coverage: '/TOTAL.*?([0-9]{1,3})%/'
@@ -136,6 +137,7 @@ test-env-deployment:
   needs:
     - test-frontend
   script:
+    - "make teardown"
     - "cp .env.unix.example .env"
     - "docker compose up -d || docker compose down"
 
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index c8c0f5534b4599364949d2588cdac869f4686e8c..6d7771334b20b2b65c99ddda0a19c6ea35385536 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ services:
       MARIADB_DATABASE: "${METADATA_DB:-fda}"
       MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: "${METADATA_PASSWORD:-dbrepo}"
     healthcheck:
-      test: mysqladmin ping --user="$METADATA_USERNAME" --password="$METADATA_PASSWORD" --silent
+      test: mysqladmin ping --user="${METADATA_USERNAME:-root}" --password="${METADATA_PASSWORD:-dbrepo}" --silent
       interval: 10s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 12
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: "${USER_DB_PASSWORD:-dbrepo}"
     healthcheck:
-      test: mysqladmin ping --user="$USER_DB_USERNAME" --password="$USER_DB_PASSWORD" --silent
+      test: mysqladmin ping --user="${USER_DB_USERNAME:-root}" --password="${USER_DB_PASSWORD:-dbrepo}" --silent
       interval: 10s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 12
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ services:
       MARIADB_DATABASE: "${AUTH_DB:-keycloak}"
       MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: "${AUTH_PASSWORD:-dbrepo}"
     healthcheck:
-      test: mysqladmin ping --user="$AUTH_USERNAME" --password="$AUTH_PASSWORD" --silent
+      test: mysqladmin ping --user="${AUTH_USERNAME:-root}" --password="${AUTH_PASSWORD:-dbrepo}" --silent
       interval: 10s
       timeout: 5s
       retries: 12