diff --git a/spanner/retry_test.go b/spanner/retry_test.go
index 225062e05ea2..e07bcf5f839d 100644
--- a/spanner/retry_test.go
+++ b/spanner/retry_test.go
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ import (
 
 // Test if runRetryable loop deals with various errors correctly.
 func TestRetry(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	responses := []error{
 		grpc.Errorf(codes.Internal, "transport is closing"),
 		grpc.Errorf(codes.Unknown, "unexpected EOF"),
diff --git a/spanner/session_test.go b/spanner/session_test.go
index 7ad9bb56390c..7c3d4f88e10e 100644
--- a/spanner/session_test.go
+++ b/spanner/session_test.go
@@ -172,6 +172,9 @@ func TestTakeWriteSessionFromIdleList(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestTakeFromIdleListChecked tests taking sessions from session pool's idle list, but with a extra ping check.
 func TestTakeFromIdleListChecked(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, sc, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{})
 	defer cancel()
 	// Stop healthcheck workers to simulate slow pings.
@@ -222,6 +225,9 @@ func TestTakeFromIdleListChecked(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestTakeFromIdleWriteListChecked tests taking sessions from session pool's idle list, but with a extra ping check.
 func TestTakeFromIdleWriteListChecked(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, sc, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{})
 	defer cancel()
 	sc.MakeNice()
@@ -273,6 +279,9 @@ func TestTakeFromIdleWriteListChecked(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestMaxOpenedSessions tests max open sessions constraint.
 func TestMaxOpenedSessions(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, _, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{MaxOpened: 1})
 	defer cancel()
 	sh1, err := sp.take(context.Background())
@@ -334,6 +343,9 @@ func TestMinOpenedSessions(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestMaxBurst tests max burst constraint.
 func TestMaxBurst(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, sc, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{MaxBurst: 1})
 	defer cancel()
 	// Will cause session creation RPC to be retried forever.
@@ -373,6 +385,9 @@ func TestMaxBurst(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestSessionrecycle tests recycling sessions.
 func TestSessionRecycle(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, _, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{MaxSessionAge: 100 * time.Millisecond, MinOpened: 1})
 	// Healthcheck is explicitly turned off in this test because it might aggressively expire sessions in idle list.
 	sp.hc.close()
@@ -456,6 +471,9 @@ func TestHcHeap(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestHealthCheckScheduler tests if healthcheck workers can schedule and perform healthchecks properly.
 func TestHealthCheckScheduler(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, sc, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{})
 	defer cancel()
 	// Create 50 sessions.
@@ -485,6 +503,9 @@ func TestHealthCheckScheduler(t *testing.T) {
 
 // Tests that a fractions of sessions are prepared for write by health checker.
 func TestWriteSessionsPrepared(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, sc, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{WriteSessions: 0.5})
 	sc.MakeNice()
 	defer cancel()
@@ -536,6 +557,9 @@ func TestWriteSessionsPrepared(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestTakeFromWriteQueue tests that sessionPool.take() returns write prepared sessions as well.
 func TestTakeFromWriteQueue(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, sc, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{MaxOpened: 1, WriteSessions: 1.0})
 	sc.MakeNice()
 	defer cancel()
@@ -561,6 +585,9 @@ func TestTakeFromWriteQueue(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestSessionHealthCheck tests healthchecking cases.
 func TestSessionHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	sp, sc, cancel := setup(t, SessionPoolConfig{MaxSessionAge: 2 * time.Second})
 	defer cancel()
 	// Test pinging sessions.
@@ -641,6 +668,9 @@ func TestSessionHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
 // when all test workers and healthcheck workers exit, mockclient, session pool and healthchecker should be in consistent state.
 func TestStressSessionPool(t *testing.T) {
 	// Use concurrent workers to test different session pool built from different configurations.
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.SkipNow()
+	}
 	for ti, cfg := range []SessionPoolConfig{
 		SessionPoolConfig{},
 		SessionPoolConfig{MaxSessionAge: 20 * time.Millisecond},
diff --git a/spanner/spanner_test.go b/spanner/spanner_test.go
index e09a256f7547..96d42ddc33e6 100644
--- a/spanner/spanner_test.go
+++ b/spanner/spanner_test.go
@@ -52,23 +52,19 @@ var (
 	dbName string
 )
 
-// skipTest returns true if testProjectID is empty.
-func skipTest(t *testing.T) bool {
-	if testProjectID == "" {
-		t.Logf("skipping because not all environment variables are provided: GCLOUD_TESTS_GOLANG_PROJECT_ID=%q", testProjectID)
-		return true
-	}
-	return false
-}
-
 // prepare initializes Cloud Spanner testing DB and clients.
 func prepare(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) error {
-	var err error
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("Integration tests skipped in short mode")
+	}
+	if testProjectID == "" {
+		t.Skip("Integration tests skipped: GCLOUD_TESTS_GOLANG_PROJECT_ID is missing")
+	}
 	ts := testutil.TokenSource(ctx, AdminScope, Scope)
 	if ts == nil {
-		t.Logf("cannot get service account credential from environment variable %v, skiping test", "GCLOUD_TESTS_GOLANG_KEY")
-		t.SkipNow()
+		t.Skip("Integration test skipped: cannot get service account credential from environment variable %v", "GCLOUD_TESTS_GOLANG_KEY")
 	}
+	var err error
 	// Create Admin client and Data client.
 	// TODO: Remove the EndPoint option once this is the default.
 	admin, err = database.NewDatabaseAdminClient(ctx, option.WithTokenSource(ts), option.WithEndpoint("spanner.googleapis.com:443"))
@@ -158,10 +154,6 @@ func tearDown(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) {
 func TestSingleUse(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 20*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
-	if skipTest(t) {
-		// Skip inegration test if not all flags are provided.
-		t.SkipNow()
-	}
 	// Set up testing environment.
 	if err := prepare(ctx, t); err != nil {
 		// If prepare() fails, tear down whatever that's already up.
@@ -365,10 +357,6 @@ func TestSingleUse(t *testing.T) {
 func TestReadOnlyTransaction(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 20*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
-	if skipTest(t) {
-		// Skip inegration test if not all flags are provided.
-		t.SkipNow()
-	}
 	// Set up testing environment.
 	if err := prepare(ctx, t); err != nil {
 		// If prepare() fails, tear down whatever that's already up.
@@ -559,9 +547,6 @@ func TestReadWriteTransaction(t *testing.T) {
 	// Give a longer deadline because of transaction backoffs.
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 60*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
-	if skipTest(t) {
-		t.SkipNow()
-	}
 	if err := prepare(ctx, t); err != nil {
 		tearDown(ctx, t)
 		t.Fatalf("cannot set up testing environment: %v", err)
@@ -658,9 +643,6 @@ func TestReadWriteTransaction(t *testing.T) {
 func TestDbRemovalRecovery(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 20*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
-	if skipTest(t) {
-		t.SkipNow()
-	}
 	if err := prepare(ctx, t); err != nil {
 		tearDown(ctx, t)
 		t.Fatalf("cannot set up testing environment: %v", err)
@@ -713,9 +695,6 @@ func TestDbRemovalRecovery(t *testing.T) {
 func TestBasicTypes(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 30*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
-	if skipTest(t) {
-		t.SkipNow()
-	}
 	if err := prepare(ctx, t); err != nil {
 		tearDown(ctx, t)
 		t.Fatalf("cannot set up testing environment: %v", err)
@@ -866,9 +845,6 @@ func TestBasicTypes(t *testing.T) {
 func TestStructTypes(t *testing.T) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 20*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
-	if skipTest(t) {
-		t.SkipNow()
-	}
 	if err := prepare(ctx, t); err != nil {
 		tearDown(ctx, t)
 		t.Fatalf("cannot set up testing environment: %v", err)