diff --git a/features/browse.feature b/features/browse.feature
index 10bb97c..3408a40 100644
--- a/features/browse.feature
+++ b/features/browse.feature
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Feature: browse
 
   Background:
     Given I am on the homepage
+    And the search index is empty
     And the following users
       | login | name |
       | joaosilva | Joao Silva |
diff --git a/features/profile_search.feature b/features/profile_search.feature
index 924df22..3249e00 100644
--- a/features/profile_search.feature
+++ b/features/profile_search.feature
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ Feature: search inside a profile
   In order to find stuff from a profile
 
   Background:
-    Given the following users
+    Given the search index is empty
+    And the following users
       | login     | name       |
       | joaosilva | Joao Silva |
     And the following articles
diff --git a/features/search.feature b/features/search.feature
index 932d843..e7aaf38 100644
--- a/features/search.feature
+++ b/features/search.feature
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ Feature: search
   I want to search
   In order to find stuff
 
+  Background:
+    Given the search index is empty
+
   Scenario: simple search for person
     Given the following users
       | login | name |
diff --git a/features/step_definitions/noosfero_steps.rb b/features/step_definitions/noosfero_steps.rb
index 1591c73..a7a98fa 100644
--- a/features/step_definitions/noosfero_steps.rb
+++ b/features/step_definitions/noosfero_steps.rb
@@ -411,3 +411,9 @@ Given /^the environment domain is "([^\"]*)"$/ do |domain|
   d = Domain.new :name => domain, :owner => Environment.default
   d.save(false)
 end
+
+Given /^the search index is empty$/ do
+  ActsAsSolr::Post.execute(Solr::Request::Delete.new(:query => '*:*'))
+end
+
+
diff --git a/lib/tasks/cucumber.rake b/lib/tasks/cucumber.rake
index d1f8faa..6df754e 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/cucumber.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/cucumber.rake
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ begin
   vendored_cucumber_binary = Dir["#{RAILS_ROOT}/vendor/{gems,plugins}/cucumber*/bin/cucumber"].first
 
   namespace :cucumber do
+    Cucumber::Rake::Task.new({:solr_start => 'solr:start'}, 'Run solr before') do |t|
+      Rake::Task['solr:start'].invoke
+#      ENV['RAILS_ENV'] = 'cucumber'
+    end
+
     Cucumber::Rake::Task.new({:ok => 'db:test:prepare'}, 'Run features that should pass') do |t|
       t.binary = vendored_cucumber_binary
       t.fork = true # You may get faster startup if you set this to false
@@ -29,8 +34,12 @@ begin
       t.cucumber_opts = "--color -p selenium --format #{ENV['CUCUMBER_FORMAT'] || 'pretty'}"
     end
 
+    Cucumber::Rake::Task.new({:solr_stop => 'solr:stop'}, 'Run solr after') do |t|
+    end
+
     desc 'Run all features'
-    task :all => [:ok, :wip]
+    task :all => [:solr_start, :ok, :wip, :solr_stop] do
+    end
   end
   desc 'Alias for cucumber:ok'
   task :cucumber => 'cucumber:ok'
--
libgit2 0.21.2