diff --git a/karate-core/src/main/java/com/intuit/karate/core/ScenarioRuntime.java b/karate-core/src/main/java/com/intuit/karate/core/ScenarioRuntime.java
index 81c0254d6..416294726 100644
--- a/karate-core/src/main/java/com/intuit/karate/core/ScenarioRuntime.java
+++ b/karate-core/src/main/java/com/intuit/karate/core/ScenarioRuntime.java
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.concurrent.Semaphore;
-import java.util.concurrent.locks.ReentrantLock;
 
 /**
  *
@@ -88,11 +87,13 @@ public ScenarioRuntime(FeatureRuntime featureRuntime, Scenario scenario, Scenari
         logger.setAppender(logAppender);
         actions = new ScenarioActions(engine);
         this.scenario = scenario;
-        magicVariables = initMagicVariables(background); // depends on scenario
         this.background = background; // used only to check which steps remain
+        magicVariables = initMagicVariables();      
         result = new ScenarioResult(scenario);
         if (background != null) {
             result.addStepResults(background.result.getStepResults());
+            Map<String, Variable> detached = background.engine.detachVariables();
+            engine.vars.putAll(detached);         
         }
         dryRun = featureRuntime.suite.dryRun;
         tags = scenario.getTagsEffective();
@@ -243,14 +244,8 @@ protected void logError(String message) {
         logger.error("{}", message);
     }
 
-    private Map<String, Object> initMagicVariables(ScenarioRuntime background) {
+    private Map<String, Object> initMagicVariables() {
         Map<String, Object> map = new HashMap();
-        if (background != null) {
-            // detaching is as good as cloning
-            // the detach is needed as the js-engine will be different
-            Map<String, Variable> detached = background.engine.detachVariables();
-            detached.forEach((k, v) -> map.put(k, v.getValue()));
-        }
         if (caller.isNone()) { // if feature called via java api
             if (caller.arg != null && caller.arg.isMap()) {
                 map.putAll(caller.arg.getValue());