diff --git a/docs/setup.rst b/docs/setup.rst
index 88785364b..4e2826dd6 100644
--- a/docs/setup.rst
+++ b/docs/setup.rst
@@ -265,15 +265,17 @@ Migration to paperless-ng is then performed in a few simple steps:
     ``docker-compose.env`` to your needs.
     See `docker route`_ for details on which edits are advised.
 
-6.  Start paperless-ng.
+6.  In order to find your existing documents with the new search feature, you need
+    to invoke a one-time operation that will create the search index:
 
-    .. code:: bash
+    .. code:: shell-session
 
-        $ docker-compose up
+        $ docker-compose run --rm webserver document_index reindex
+    
+    This will migrate your database and create the search index. After that,
+    paperless will take care of maintaining the index by itself.
 
-    If you see everything working (you should see some migrations getting
-    applied, for instance), you can gracefully stop paperless-ng with Ctrl-C
-    and then start paperless-ng as usual with
+7.  Start paperless-ng.
 
     .. code:: bash
 
@@ -281,11 +283,11 @@ Migration to paperless-ng is then performed in a few simple steps:
 
     This will run paperless in the background and automatically start it on system boot.
 
-7.  Paperless installed a permanent redirect to ``admin/`` in your browser. This
+8.  Paperless installed a permanent redirect to ``admin/`` in your browser. This
     redirect is still in place and prevents access to the new UI. Clear
     browsing cache in order to fix this.
 
-8.  Optionally, follow the instructions below to migrate your existing data to PostgreSQL.
+9.  Optionally, follow the instructions below to migrate your existing data to PostgreSQL.
 
 
 .. _setup-sqlite_to_psql:
diff --git a/src/documents/consumer.py b/src/documents/consumer.py
index 6aedb25b1..f38c726ac 100755
--- a/src/documents/consumer.py
+++ b/src/documents/consumer.py
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import transaction
 from django.utils import timezone
 
-from paperless.db import GnuPG
 from .classifier import DocumentClassifier, IncompatibleClassifierVersionError
 from .file_handling import generate_filename, create_source_path_directory
 from .loggers import LoggingMixin
@@ -40,17 +39,6 @@ class Consumer(LoggingMixin):
             raise ConsumerError("Cannot consume {}: It is not a file".format(
                 self.path))
 
-    def pre_check_consumption_dir(self):
-        if not settings.CONSUMPTION_DIR:
-            raise ConsumerError(
-                "The CONSUMPTION_DIR settings variable does not appear to be "
-                "set.")
-
-        if not os.path.isdir(settings.CONSUMPTION_DIR):
-            raise ConsumerError(
-                "Consumption directory {} does not exist".format(
-                    settings.CONSUMPTION_DIR))
-
     def pre_check_duplicate(self):
         with open(self.path, "rb") as f:
             checksum = hashlib.md5(f.read()).hexdigest()
@@ -93,7 +81,6 @@ class Consumer(LoggingMixin):
         # Make sure that preconditions for consuming the file are met.
 
         self.pre_check_file_exists()
-        self.pre_check_consumption_dir()
         self.pre_check_directories()
         self.pre_check_duplicate()
 
diff --git a/src/documents/index.py b/src/documents/index.py
index a6c3abba8..ffa3e688f 100644
--- a/src/documents/index.py
+++ b/src/documents/index.py
@@ -64,9 +64,6 @@ def get_schema():
 
 
 def open_index(recreate=False):
-    # TODO: this is not thread safe. If 2 instances try to create the index
-    #  at the same time, this fails. This currently prevents parallel
-    #  tests.
     try:
         if exists_in(settings.INDEX_DIR) and not recreate:
             return open_dir(settings.INDEX_DIR)
diff --git a/src/documents/loggers.py b/src/documents/loggers.py
index fd20e1288..76dbe0163 100644
--- a/src/documents/loggers.py
+++ b/src/documents/loggers.py
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
 import logging
 import uuid
 
+from django.conf import settings
+
 
 class PaperlessHandler(logging.Handler):
     def emit(self, record):
+        if settings.DISABLE_DBHANDLER:
+            return
+
         # We have to do the import here or Django will barf when it tries to
         # load this because the apps aren't loaded at that point
         from .models import Log
diff --git a/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py b/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py
index c25d0cfa9..7baeccce0 100644
--- a/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py
+++ b/src/documents/management/commands/document_consumer.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import os
 from time import sleep
 
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand
+from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError
 from django_q.tasks import async_task
 from watchdog.events import FileSystemEventHandler
 from watchdog.observers.polling import PollingObserver
@@ -95,6 +95,15 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
     def handle(self, *args, **options):
         directory = options["directory"]
 
+        if not directory:
+            raise CommandError(
+                "CONSUMPTION_DIR does not appear to be set."
+            )
+
+        if not os.path.isdir(directory):
+            raise CommandError(
+                f"Consumption directory {directory} does not exist")
+
         for entry in os.scandir(directory):
             _consume(entry.path)
 
@@ -128,12 +137,15 @@ class Command(BaseCommand):
             f"Using inotify to watch directory for changes: {directory}")
 
         inotify = INotify()
-        inotify.add_watch(directory, flags.CLOSE_WRITE | flags.MOVED_TO)
+        descriptor = inotify.add_watch(
+            directory, flags.CLOSE_WRITE | flags.MOVED_TO)
         try:
             while not self.stop_flag:
                 for event in inotify.read(timeout=1000, read_delay=1000):
                     file = os.path.join(directory, event.name)
-                    if os.path.isfile(file):
-                        _consume(file)
+                    _consume(file)
         except KeyboardInterrupt:
             pass
+
+        inotify.rm_watch(descriptor)
+        inotify.close()
diff --git a/src/documents/migrations/1000_update_paperless_all.py b/src/documents/migrations/1000_update_paperless_all.py
index dc6313dd8..f3fbbb6c1 100644
--- a/src/documents/migrations/1000_update_paperless_all.py
+++ b/src/documents/migrations/1000_update_paperless_all.py
@@ -5,23 +5,6 @@ from django.db import migrations, models
 import django.db.models.deletion
 
 
-def make_index(apps, schema_editor):
-    Document = apps.get_model("documents", "Document")
-    documents = Document.objects.all()
-    print()
-    try:
-        print("  --> Creating document index...")
-        from whoosh.writing import AsyncWriter
-        from documents import index
-        ix = index.open_index(recreate=True)
-        with AsyncWriter(ix) as writer:
-            for document in documents:
-                index.update_document(writer, document)
-    except ImportError:
-        # index may not be relevant anymore
-        print("  --> Cannot create document index.")
-
-
 def logs_set_default_group(apps, schema_editor):
     Log = apps.get_model('documents', 'Log')
     for log in Log.objects.all():
@@ -99,8 +82,4 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
             code=django.db.migrations.operations.special.RunPython.noop,
             reverse_code=logs_set_default_group
         ),
-        migrations.RunPython(
-            code=make_index,
-            reverse_code=django.db.migrations.operations.special.RunPython.noop,
-        ),
     ]
diff --git a/src/documents/models.py b/src/documents/models.py
index 5a4c9a187..358749fae 100755
--- a/src/documents/models.py
+++ b/src/documents/models.py
@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@ class Document(models.Model):
 
     @property
     def file_type(self):
+        # TODO: this is not stable across python versions
         return mimetypes.guess_extension(str(self.mime_type))
 
     @property
diff --git a/src/documents/tests/test_api.py b/src/documents/tests/test_api.py
index d9a2aac26..37f774891 100644
--- a/src/documents/tests/test_api.py
+++ b/src/documents/tests/test_api.py
@@ -7,14 +7,13 @@ from pathvalidate import ValidationError
 from rest_framework.test import APITestCase
 
 from documents.models import Document, Correspondent, DocumentType, Tag
-from documents.tests.utils import setup_directories, remove_dirs
+from documents.tests.utils import DirectoriesMixin
 
 
-class DocumentApiTest(APITestCase):
+class DocumentApiTest(DirectoriesMixin, APITestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.dirs = setup_directories()
-        self.addCleanup(remove_dirs, self.dirs)
+        super(DocumentApiTest, self).setUp()
 
         user = User.objects.create_superuser(username="temp_admin")
         self.client.force_login(user=user)
diff --git a/src/documents/tests/test_consumer.py b/src/documents/tests/test_consumer.py
index b8644a41d..61a98612d 100644
--- a/src/documents/tests/test_consumer.py
+++ b/src/documents/tests/test_consumer.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from unittest.mock import MagicMock
 
 from django.test import TestCase, override_settings
 
-from .utils import setup_directories, remove_dirs
+from .utils import DirectoriesMixin
 from ..consumer import Consumer, ConsumerError
 from ..models import FileInfo, Tag, Correspondent, DocumentType, Document
 from ..parsers import DocumentParser, ParseError
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ def fake_magic_from_file(file, mime=False):
 
 
 @mock.patch("documents.consumer.magic.from_file", fake_magic_from_file)
-class TestConsumer(TestCase):
+class TestConsumer(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
 
     def make_dummy_parser(self, logging_group):
         return DummyParser(logging_group, self.dirs.scratch_dir)
@@ -417,8 +417,7 @@ class TestConsumer(TestCase):
         return FaultyParser(logging_group, self.dirs.scratch_dir)
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.dirs = setup_directories()
-        self.addCleanup(remove_dirs, self.dirs)
+        super(TestConsumer, self).setUp()
 
         patcher = mock.patch("documents.parsers.document_consumer_declaration.send")
         m = patcher.start()
@@ -502,26 +501,6 @@ class TestConsumer(TestCase):
 
         self.fail("Should throw exception")
 
-    @override_settings(CONSUMPTION_DIR=None)
-    def testConsumptionDirUnset(self):
-        try:
-            self.consumer.try_consume_file(self.get_test_file())
-        except ConsumerError as e:
-            self.assertEqual(str(e), "The CONSUMPTION_DIR settings variable does not appear to be set.")
-            return
-
-        self.fail("Should throw exception")
-
-    @override_settings(CONSUMPTION_DIR="asd")
-    def testNoConsumptionDir(self):
-        try:
-            self.consumer.try_consume_file(self.get_test_file())
-        except ConsumerError as e:
-            self.assertEqual(str(e), "Consumption directory asd does not exist")
-            return
-
-        self.fail("Should throw exception")
-
     def testDuplicates(self):
         self.consumer.try_consume_file(self.get_test_file())
 
diff --git a/src/documents/tests/test_logger.py b/src/documents/tests/test_logger.py
index 6e240ffc9..bbc9c2b5d 100644
--- a/src/documents/tests/test_logger.py
+++ b/src/documents/tests/test_logger.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import logging
 import uuid
 from unittest import mock
 
-from django.test import TestCase
+from django.test import TestCase, override_settings
 
 from ..models import Log
 
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ class TestPaperlessLog(TestCase):
         self.logger = logging.getLogger(
             "documents.management.commands.document_consumer")
 
+    @override_settings(DISABLE_DBHANDLER=False)
     def test_that_it_saves_at_all(self):
 
         kw = {"group": uuid.uuid4()}
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ class TestPaperlessLog(TestCase):
             self.logger.critical("This is a critical message", extra=kw)
             self.assertEqual(Log.objects.all().count(), 5)
 
+    @override_settings(DISABLE_DBHANDLER=False)
     def test_groups(self):
 
         kw1 = {"group": uuid.uuid4()}
diff --git a/src/documents/tests/test_management_consumer.py b/src/documents/tests/test_management_consumer.py
index 33938d450..aed824926 100644
--- a/src/documents/tests/test_management_consumer.py
+++ b/src/documents/tests/test_management_consumer.py
@@ -6,11 +6,12 @@ from time import sleep
 from unittest import mock
 
 from django.conf import settings
-from django.test import TestCase, override_settings
+from django.core.management import call_command, CommandError
+from django.test import override_settings, TestCase
 
 from documents.consumer import ConsumerError
 from documents.management.commands import document_consumer
-from documents.tests.utils import setup_directories, remove_dirs
+from documents.tests.utils import DirectoriesMixin
 
 
 class ConsumerThread(Thread):
@@ -32,18 +33,17 @@ def chunked(size, source):
         yield source[i:i+size]
 
 
-class TestConsumer(TestCase):
+class TestConsumer(DirectoriesMixin, TestCase):
 
     sample_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "samples", "simple.pdf")
 
     def setUp(self) -> None:
+        super(TestConsumer, self).setUp()
+        self.t = None
         patcher = mock.patch("documents.management.commands.document_consumer.async_task")
         self.task_mock = patcher.start()
         self.addCleanup(patcher.stop)
 
-        self.dirs = setup_directories()
-        self.addCleanup(remove_dirs, self.dirs)
-
     def t_start(self):
         self.t = ConsumerThread()
         self.t.start()
@@ -52,7 +52,12 @@ class TestConsumer(TestCase):
 
     def tearDown(self) -> None:
         if self.t:
+            # set the stop flag
             self.t.stop()
+            # wait for the consumer to exit.
+            self.t.join()
+
+        super(TestConsumer, self).tearDown()
 
     def wait_for_task_mock_call(self):
         n = 0
@@ -193,3 +198,13 @@ class TestConsumer(TestCase):
     @override_settings(CONSUMER_POLLING=1)
     def test_slow_write_incomplete_polling(self):
         self.test_slow_write_incomplete()
+
+    @override_settings(CONSUMPTION_DIR="does_not_exist")
+    def test_consumption_directory_invalid(self):
+
+        self.assertRaises(CommandError, call_command, 'document_consumer', '--oneshot')
+
+    @override_settings(CONSUMPTION_DIR="")
+    def test_consumption_directory_unset(self):
+
+        self.assertRaises(CommandError, call_command, 'document_consumer', '--oneshot')
diff --git a/src/documents/tests/utils.py b/src/documents/tests/utils.py
index 7b0938ee3..83148e9c7 100644
--- a/src/documents/tests/utils.py
+++ b/src/documents/tests/utils.py
@@ -39,3 +39,18 @@ def remove_dirs(dirs):
     shutil.rmtree(dirs.data_dir, ignore_errors=True)
     shutil.rmtree(dirs.scratch_dir, ignore_errors=True)
     shutil.rmtree(dirs.consumption_dir, ignore_errors=True)
+
+
+class DirectoriesMixin:
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.dirs = None
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        self.dirs = setup_directories()
+        super(DirectoriesMixin, self).setUp()
+
+    def tearDown(self) -> None:
+        super(DirectoriesMixin, self).tearDown()
+        remove_dirs(self.dirs)
diff --git a/src/documents/views.py b/src/documents/views.py
index 9484b48cc..2c8585dd0 100755
--- a/src/documents/views.py
+++ b/src/documents/views.py
@@ -221,7 +221,9 @@ class SearchView(APIView):
 
     permission_classes = (IsAuthenticated,)
 
-    ix = index.open_index()
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(SearchView, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.ix = index.open_index()
 
     def add_infos_to_hit(self, r):
         doc = Document.objects.get(id=r['id'])
@@ -260,7 +262,9 @@ class SearchAutoCompleteView(APIView):
 
     permission_classes = (IsAuthenticated,)
 
-    ix = index.open_index()
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(SearchAutoCompleteView, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.ix = index.open_index()
 
     def get(self, request, format=None):
         if 'term' in request.query_params:
diff --git a/src/paperless/settings.py b/src/paperless/settings.py
index 79b454649..18f7cfac4 100644
--- a/src/paperless/settings.py
+++ b/src/paperless/settings.py
@@ -251,6 +251,8 @@ USE_TZ = True
 # Logging                                                                     #
 ###############################################################################
 
+DISABLE_DBHANDLER = __get_boolean("PAPERLESS_DISABLE_DBHANDLER")
+
 LOGGING = {
     "version": 1,
     "disable_existing_loggers": False,
diff --git a/src/setup.cfg b/src/setup.cfg
index b540f9efe..2a1a348bd 100644
--- a/src/setup.cfg
+++ b/src/setup.cfg
@@ -3,10 +3,9 @@ exclude = migrations, paperless/settings.py, .tox, */tests/*
 
 [tool:pytest]
 DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=paperless.settings
-addopts = --pythonwarnings=all --cov --cov-report=html
+addopts = --pythonwarnings=all --cov --cov-report=html -n auto
 env =
-  PAPERLESS_SECRET=paperless
-  PAPERLESS_EMAIL_SECRET=paperless
+  PAPERLESS_DISABLE_DBHANDLER=true
 
 
 [coverage:run]