diff --git a/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common b/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common
index bbd91953fa..89d4895b97 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common
+++ b/bin/tests/system/conf.sh.common
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ export LANG=C
 #
 # Common lists of system tests to run.
 #
-# The "stress" test is not run by default since it creates enough
-# load on the machine to make it unusable to other users.
 # The "dupsigs" test is not run by default because it takes
 # a very long time to complete.
 #
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/stress/clean.sh b/bin/tests/system/stress/clean.sh
index 0f8403c83a..b365d7cc77 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/stress/clean.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/stress/clean.sh
@@ -17,9 +17,12 @@ rm -f ns?/zones.conf
 rm -f ns?/zone*.bk
 
 rm -f ns1/delegations.db
+rm -f ns1/root.db
 
 rm -f ns2/zone0*.db
 rm -f ns2/zone0*.jnl
 rm -f */named.memstats
 rm -f ns*/named.lock
 rm -f ns*/managed-keys.bind*
+rm -f ns*/named.run
+rm -f ns*/named.conf
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns1/named.conf b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns1/named.conf.in
similarity index 98%
rename from bin/tests/system/stress/ns1/named.conf
rename to bin/tests/system/stress/ns1/named.conf.in
index 7dff8e156d..2b54a36eb9 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns1/named.conf
+++ b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns1/named.conf.in
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ options {
 	query-source address 10.53.0.1;
 	notify-source 10.53.0.1;
 	transfer-source 10.53.0.1;
-	port 5300;
+	port @PORT@;
 	pid-file "named.pid";
 	listen-on { 10.53.0.1; };
 	listen-on-v6 { none; };
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns2/named.conf b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns2/named.conf.in
similarity index 98%
rename from bin/tests/system/stress/ns2/named.conf
rename to bin/tests/system/stress/ns2/named.conf.in
index f8317823b1..5bbea78aca 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns2/named.conf
+++ b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns2/named.conf.in
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ options {
 	query-source address 10.53.0.2;
 	notify-source 10.53.0.2;
 	transfer-source 10.53.0.2;
-	port 5300;
+	port @PORT@;
 	pid-file "named.pid";
 	listen-on { 10.53.0.2; };
 	listen-on-v6 { none; };
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns3/named.conf b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns3/named.conf.in
similarity index 91%
rename from bin/tests/system/stress/ns3/named.conf
rename to bin/tests/system/stress/ns3/named.conf.in
index 8894493ba6..b504abba0b 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns3/named.conf
+++ b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns3/named.conf.in
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ options {
 	query-source address 10.53.0.3;
 	notify-source 10.53.0.3;
 	transfer-source 10.53.0.3;
-	port 5300;
+	port @PORT@;
 	pid-file "named.pid";
 	listen-on { 10.53.0.3; };
 	listen-on-v6 { none; };
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ key rndc_key {
 };
 
 controls {
-	inet 10.53.0.3 port 9953 allow { any; } keys { rndc_key; };
+	inet 10.53.0.3 port @CONTROLPORT@ allow { any; } keys { rndc_key; };
 };
 
 zone "." {
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns4/named.conf b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns4/named.conf.in
similarity index 98%
rename from bin/tests/system/stress/ns4/named.conf
rename to bin/tests/system/stress/ns4/named.conf.in
index e41d194705..57f7e40fdd 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/stress/ns4/named.conf
+++ b/bin/tests/system/stress/ns4/named.conf.in
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ options {
 	query-source address 10.53.0.4;
 	notify-source 10.53.0.4;
 	transfer-source 10.53.0.4;
-	port 5300;
+	port @PORT@;
 	pid-file "named.pid";
 	listen-on { 10.53.0.4; };
 	listen-on-v6 { none; };
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/stress/setup.sh b/bin/tests/system/stress/setup.sh
index d166e8e2c3..ebf3a8e7f9 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/stress/setup.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/stress/setup.sh
@@ -19,3 +19,8 @@
 #
 
 $PERL setup.pl
+
+copy_setports ns1/named.conf.in ns1/named.conf
+copy_setports ns2/named.conf.in ns2/named.conf
+copy_setports ns3/named.conf.in ns3/named.conf
+copy_setports ns4/named.conf.in ns4/named.conf
diff --git a/bin/tests/system/stress/tests.sh b/bin/tests/system/stress/tests.sh
index ad7a5e8edc..9d36c6c5f5 100644
--- a/bin/tests/system/stress/tests.sh
+++ b/bin/tests/system/stress/tests.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ status=0
 
 (
 $SHELL -c "while true
-           do $RNDC -c ../common/rndc.conf -s 10.53.0.3 -p 9953 reload 2>&1 |
+           do $RNDC -c ../common/rndc.conf -s 10.53.0.3 -p $CONTROLPORT reload 2>&1 |
 	       sed 's/^/I:ns3 /';
 	   sleep 1
        done" & echo $! >reload.pid
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ $SHELL -c "while true
 
 for i in 0 1 2 3 4
 do
-       $PERL update.pl -s 10.53.0.2 -p 5300 zone00000$i.example. &
+       $PERL update.pl -s 10.53.0.2 -p $PORT zone00000$i.example. &
 done
 
 echo_i "waiting for background processes to finish"
@@ -35,5 +35,9 @@ wait
 echo_i "killing reload loop"
 kill `cat reload.pid`
 
+# If the test has run to completion without named crashing, it has succeeded.
+# Otherwise, the crash will be detected by the test framework and the test will
+# fail.
+
 echo_i "exit status: $status"
 [ $status -eq 0 ] || exit 1