diff --git a/tests/src/test/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/TestUtils.scala b/tests/src/test/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/TestUtils.scala
index 3fed04b3503..3ebe83bc113 100644
--- a/tests/src/test/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/TestUtils.scala
+++ b/tests/src/test/scala/com/nvidia/spark/rapids/TestUtils.scala
@@ -26,11 +26,19 @@ import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
 import org.apache.spark.sql.SparkSession
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.adaptive.{AdaptiveSparkPlanExec, BroadcastQueryStageExec, ShuffleQueryStageExec}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.SQLConf
 import org.apache.spark.sql.rapids.GpuShuffleEnv
 import org.apache.spark.sql.vectorized.ColumnarBatch
 
 /** A collection of utility methods useful in tests. */
 object TestUtils extends Assertions with Arm {
+  // Need to set a legacy config to allow clearing the active session
+  private val clearSessionConf = {
+    val conf = new SQLConf
+    conf.setConfString("spark.sql.legacy.allowModifyActiveSession", "true")
+    conf
+  }
+
   def getTempDir(basename: String): File = new File(
     System.getProperty("test.build.data", System.getProperty("java.io.tmpdir", "/tmp")),
     basename)
@@ -134,8 +142,10 @@ object TestUtils extends Assertions with Arm {
       f(spark)
     } finally {
       spark.stop()
-      SparkSession.clearActiveSession()
-      SparkSession.clearDefaultSession()
+      SQLConf.withExistingConf(clearSessionConf) {
+        SparkSession.clearActiveSession()
+        SparkSession.clearDefaultSession()
+      }
       GpuShuffleEnv.setRapidsShuffleManagerInitialized(false, GpuShuffleEnv.RAPIDS_SHUFFLE_CLASS)
     }
   }