diff --git a/dask_cuda/tests/test_explicit_comms.py b/dask_cuda/tests/test_explicit_comms.py
index d1024ff69..1a15370b5 100644
--- a/dask_cuda/tests/test_explicit_comms.py
+++ b/dask_cuda/tests/test_explicit_comms.py
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
 import dask_cuda
 from dask_cuda.explicit_comms import comms
 from dask_cuda.explicit_comms.dataframe.shuffle import shuffle as explicit_comms_shuffle
-from dask_cuda.initialize import initialize
-from dask_cuda.utils import get_ucx_config
 
 mp = mp.get_context("spawn")  # type: ignore
 ucp = pytest.importorskip("ucp")
@@ -32,14 +30,6 @@ async def my_rank(state, arg):
 
 
 def _test_local_cluster(protocol):
-    dask.config.update(
-        dask.config.global_config,
-        {
-            "distributed.comm.ucx": get_ucx_config(enable_tcp_over_ucx=True),
-        },
-        priority="new",
-    )
-
     with LocalCluster(
         protocol=protocol,
         dashboard_address=None,
@@ -106,15 +96,6 @@ def check_partitions(df, npartitions):
 def _test_dataframe_shuffle(backend, protocol, n_workers):
     if backend == "cudf":
         cudf = pytest.importorskip("cudf")
-        initialize(enable_tcp_over_ucx=True)
-    else:
-        dask.config.update(
-            dask.config.global_config,
-            {
-                "distributed.comm.ucx": get_ucx_config(enable_tcp_over_ucx=True),
-            },
-            priority="new",
-        )
 
     with LocalCluster(
         protocol=protocol,
@@ -220,17 +201,6 @@ def _test_dataframe_shuffle_merge(backend, protocol, n_workers):
     if backend == "cudf":
         cudf = pytest.importorskip("cudf")
 
-        initialize(enable_tcp_over_ucx=True)
-    else:
-
-        dask.config.update(
-            dask.config.global_config,
-            {
-                "distributed.comm.ucx": get_ucx_config(enable_tcp_over_ucx=True),
-            },
-            priority="new",
-        )
-
     with LocalCluster(
         protocol=protocol,
         dashboard_address=None,
@@ -287,7 +257,6 @@ def _test_jit_unspill(protocol):
         threads_per_worker=1,
         jit_unspill=True,
         device_memory_limit="1B",
-        enable_tcp_over_ucx=True if protocol == "ucx" else False,
     ) as cluster:
         with Client(cluster):
             np.random.seed(42)
diff --git a/dask_cuda/tests/test_local_cuda_cluster.py b/dask_cuda/tests/test_local_cuda_cluster.py
index f2e48783c..e087fb70b 100644
--- a/dask_cuda/tests/test_local_cuda_cluster.py
+++ b/dask_cuda/tests/test_local_cuda_cluster.py
@@ -87,14 +87,25 @@ def get_visible_devices():
                 }
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("protocol", ["ucx", None])
 @gen_test(timeout=20)
-async def test_ucx_protocol(protocol):
+async def test_ucx_protocol():
+    pytest.importorskip("ucp")
+
+    async with LocalCUDACluster(
+        protocol="ucx", asynchronous=True, data=dict
+    ) as cluster:
+        assert all(
+            ws.address.startswith("ucx://") for ws in cluster.scheduler.workers.values()
+        )
+
+
+@gen_test(timeout=20)
+async def test_explicit_ucx_with_protocol_none():
     pytest.importorskip("ucp")
 
     initialize(enable_tcp_over_ucx=True)
     async with LocalCUDACluster(
-        protocol=protocol, enable_tcp_over_ucx=True, asynchronous=True, data=dict
+        protocol=None, enable_tcp_over_ucx=True, asynchronous=True, data=dict
     ) as cluster:
         assert all(
             ws.address.startswith("ucx://") for ws in cluster.scheduler.workers.values()
diff --git a/dask_cuda/tests/test_proxy.py b/dask_cuda/tests/test_proxy.py
index 1a4abafe9..cfdbf636b 100644
--- a/dask_cuda/tests/test_proxy.py
+++ b/dask_cuda/tests/test_proxy.py
@@ -422,7 +422,6 @@ def task(x):
     async with dask_cuda.LocalCUDACluster(
         n_workers=1,
         protocol=protocol,
-        enable_tcp_over_ucx=protocol == "ucx",
         asynchronous=True,
     ) as cluster:
         async with Client(cluster, asynchronous=True) as client:
@@ -462,7 +461,6 @@ def task(x):
     async with dask_cuda.LocalCUDACluster(
         n_workers=1,
         protocol=protocol,
-        enable_tcp_over_ucx=protocol == "ucx",
         asynchronous=True,
     ) as cluster:
         async with Client(cluster, asynchronous=True) as client: