diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Downloader/GitDownloaderTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Downloader/GitDownloaderTest.php
index 0228193b8..688b9ceee 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Downloader/GitDownloaderTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Downloader/GitDownloaderTest.php
@@ -25,6 +25,17 @@ class GitDownloaderTest extends TestCase
     /** @var string */
     private $workingDir;
 
+    private $skipped;
+
+    protected function initialize()
+    {
+        try {
+            $this->skipIfNotExecutable('git');
+        } catch (\PHPUnit_Framework_SkippedTestError $e) {
+            $this->skipped = 'This test needs a git binary in the PATH to be able to run';
+        }
+    }
+
     protected function setUp()
     {
         $this->fs = new Filesystem;
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchivableFilesFinderTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchivableFilesFinderTest.php
index cce67c1aa..76629276d 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchivableFilesFinderTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchivableFilesFinderTest.php
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ use Composer\Package\Archiver\ArchivableFilesFinder;
 use Composer\TestCase;
 use Composer\Util\Filesystem;
 use Symfony\Component\Process\Process;
-use Symfony\Component\Process\ExecutableFinder;
 
 class ArchivableFilesFinderTest extends TestCase
 {
@@ -146,10 +145,7 @@ class ArchivableFilesFinderTest extends TestCase
 
     public function testGitExcludes()
     {
-        // Ensure that git is available for testing.
-        if (!$this->isProcessAvailable('git')) {
-            return $this->markTestSkipped('git is not available.');
-        }
+        $this->skipIfNotExecutable('git');
 
         file_put_contents($this->sources.'/.gitignore', implode("\n", array(
             '# gitignore rules with comments and blank lines',
@@ -202,10 +198,7 @@ class ArchivableFilesFinderTest extends TestCase
 
     public function testHgExcludes()
     {
-        // Ensure that Mercurial is available for testing.
-        if (!$this->isProcessAvailable('hg')) {
-            return $this->markTestSkipped('Mercurial is not available.');
-        }
+        $this->skipIfNotExecutable('hg');
 
         file_put_contents($this->sources.'/.hgignore', implode("\n", array(
             '# hgignore rules with comments, blank lines and syntax changes',
@@ -281,18 +274,4 @@ class ArchivableFilesFinderTest extends TestCase
 
         $this->assertEquals($expectedFiles, $actualFiles);
     }
-
-    /**
-     * Check whether or not the given process is available.
-     *
-     * @param string $process The name of the binary to test.
-     *
-     * @return bool True if the process is available, false otherwise.
-     */
-    protected function isProcessAvailable($process)
-    {
-        $finder = new ExecutableFinder();
-
-        return (bool) $finder->find($process);
-    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManagerTest.php b/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManagerTest.php
index 16180bd5d..fa17774ca 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManagerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/Test/Package/Archiver/ArchiveManagerTest.php
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@ class ArchiveManagerTest extends ArchiverTest
 
     public function testArchiveTar()
     {
+        $this->skipIfNotExecutable('git');
+
         $this->setupGitRepo();
 
         $package = $this->setupPackage();
@@ -62,6 +64,8 @@ class ArchiveManagerTest extends ArchiverTest
 
     public function testArchiveCustomFileName()
     {
+        $this->skipIfNotExecutable('git');
+
         $this->setupGitRepo();
 
         $package = $this->setupPackage();
diff --git a/tests/Composer/TestCase.php b/tests/Composer/TestCase.php
index 44029ad5e..1d1784600 100644
--- a/tests/Composer/TestCase.php
+++ b/tests/Composer/TestCase.php
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@ use Composer\Package\AliasPackage;
 use Composer\Semver\Constraint\Constraint;
 use Composer\Util\Filesystem;
 use Composer\Util\Silencer;
+use Symfony\Component\Process\ExecutableFinder;
 
 abstract class TestCase extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
 {
     private static $parser;
+    private static $executableCache = array();
 
     public static function getUniqueTmpDirectory()
     {
@@ -83,4 +85,23 @@ abstract class TestCase extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
 
         mkdir($directory, 0777, true);
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Check whether or not the given name is an available executable.
+     *
+     * @param string $executableName The name of the binary to test.
+     *
+     * @throws PHPUnit_Framework_SkippedTestError
+     */
+    protected function skipIfNotExecutable($executableName)
+    {
+        if (!isset(self::$executableCache[$executableName])) {
+            $finder = new ExecutableFinder();
+            self::$executableCache[$executableName] = (bool) $finder->find($executableName);
+        }
+
+        if (false === self::$executableCache[$executableName]) {
+            $this->markTestSkipped($executableName . ' is not found or not executable.');
+        }
+    }
 }