diff --git a/airflow/jobs.py b/airflow/jobs.py
index 1064ba48e6fc6..9b71854d4dcdf 100644
--- a/airflow/jobs.py
+++ b/airflow/jobs.py
@@ -1633,13 +1633,16 @@ def _execute_helper(self):
                 self.heartbeat()
                 last_self_heartbeat_time = timezone.utcnow()
 
+            is_unit_test = conf.getboolean('core', 'unit_test_mode')
             loop_end_time = time.time()
             loop_duration = loop_end_time - loop_start_time
             self.log.debug(
                 "Ran scheduling loop in %.2f seconds",
                 loop_duration)
-            self.log.debug("Sleeping for %.2f seconds", self._processor_poll_interval)
-            time.sleep(self._processor_poll_interval)
+
+            if not is_unit_test:
+                self.log.debug("Sleeping for %.2f seconds", self._processor_poll_interval)
+                time.sleep(self._processor_poll_interval)
 
             # Exit early for a test mode, run one additional scheduler loop
             # to reduce the possibility that parsed DAG was put into the queue
@@ -1652,7 +1655,7 @@ def _execute_helper(self):
                               " have been processed {} times".format(self.num_runs))
                 break
 
-            if loop_duration < 1:
+            if loop_duration < 1 and not is_unit_test:
                 sleep_length = 1 - loop_duration
                 self.log.debug(
                     "Sleeping for {0:.2f} seconds to prevent excessive logging"
diff --git a/airflow/utils/dag_processing.py b/airflow/utils/dag_processing.py
index 97d2c17999b83..aceaec1598266 100644
--- a/airflow/utils/dag_processing.py
+++ b/airflow/utils/dag_processing.py
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ def get_dag(self, dag_id):
 
 
 def list_py_file_paths(directory, safe_mode=True,
-                       include_examples=conf.getboolean('core', 'LOAD_EXAMPLES')):
+                       include_examples=None):
     """
     Traverse a directory and look for Python files.
 
@@ -287,6 +287,8 @@ def list_py_file_paths(directory, safe_mode=True,
     :return: a list of paths to Python files in the specified directory
     :rtype: list[unicode]
     """
+    if include_examples is None:
+        include_examples = conf.getboolean('core', 'LOAD_EXAMPLES')
     file_paths = []
     if directory is None:
         return []
diff --git a/tests/jobs.py b/tests/jobs.py
index e3195f86c8a8b..8cb53e948f7f7 100644
--- a/tests/jobs.py
+++ b/tests/jobs.py
@@ -1386,12 +1386,33 @@ def test_localtaskjob_double_trigger(self):
 class SchedulerJobTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.dagbag = DagBag()
         with create_session() as session:
             session.query(models.DagRun).delete()
+            session.query(models.TaskInstance).delete()
+            session.query(models.Pool).delete()
+            session.query(models.DagModel).delete()
+            session.query(models.SlaMiss).delete()
             session.query(models.ImportError).delete()
             session.commit()
 
+    @classmethod
+    def setUpClass(cls):
+        cls.dagbag = DagBag()
+
+        def getboolean(section, key):
+            if section.lower() == 'core' and key.lower() == 'load_examples':
+                return False
+            else:
+                return configuration.conf.getboolean(section, key)
+
+        cls.patcher = mock.patch('airflow.jobs.conf.getboolean')
+        mock_getboolean = cls.patcher.start()
+        mock_getboolean.side_effect = getboolean
+
+    @classmethod
+    def tearDownClass(cls):
+        cls.patcher.stop()
+
     @staticmethod
     def run_single_scheduler_loop_with_no_dags(dags_folder):
         """
@@ -2489,6 +2510,7 @@ def test_scheduler_task_start_date(self):
         dag = self.dagbag.get_dag(dag_id)
         dag.clear()
         scheduler = SchedulerJob(dag_id,
+                                 subdir=os.path.join(TEST_DAG_FOLDER, 'test_scheduler_dags.py'),
                                  num_runs=2)
         scheduler.run()
 
@@ -2511,7 +2533,8 @@ def test_scheduler_multiprocessing(self):
             dag.clear()
 
         scheduler = SchedulerJob(dag_ids=dag_ids,
-                                 num_runs=2)
+                                 subdir=os.path.join(TEST_DAG_FOLDER, 'test_scheduler_dags.py'),
+                                 num_runs=1)
         scheduler.run()
 
         # zero tasks ran