I found this post http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4010462#... I forgot to add earlier - I'm using Seam 1.2.1 Following the suggestions everything works ok only if I my test class does not extend SeamTest - if it's a pure TestNG test it works fine. OK public class CatalogTest { private Catalog catalog; private EntityManagerFactory emf; public EntityManagerFactory getEntityManagerFactory() { return emf; } @Configuration(beforeTestClass = true) public void init() { emf = Persistence .createEntityManagerFactory("cast"); } } FAILED public class CatalogTest extends SeamTest { private Catalog catalog; private EntityManagerFactory emf; public EntityManagerFactory getEntityManagerFactory() { return emf; } @Configuration(beforeTestClass = true) public void init() { emf = Persistence .createEntityManagerFactory("cast"); } } Basically, all I'm trying to attempt is test that the entity POJO saves to my database and I was following the steps in the reference guide. Matt / Clive - hoping you guys have a few minutes to respond. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4062667#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...