diff --git a/devtools/gradle/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/QuarkusPlugin.java b/devtools/gradle/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/QuarkusPlugin.java
index 67b74acdc1be7..555277471721d 100644
--- a/devtools/gradle/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/QuarkusPlugin.java
+++ b/devtools/gradle/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/QuarkusPlugin.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.BasePlugin;
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.JavaPlugin;
 import org.gradle.api.tasks.TaskContainer;
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.testing.Test;
 import org.gradle.util.GradleVersion;
 
 import io.quarkus.gradle.tasks.QuarkusAddExtension;
@@ -15,6 +16,7 @@
 import io.quarkus.gradle.tasks.QuarkusGenerateConfig;
 import io.quarkus.gradle.tasks.QuarkusListExtensions;
 import io.quarkus.gradle.tasks.QuarkusNative;
+import io.quarkus.gradle.tasks.QuarkusTestConfig;
 
 /**
  * @author <a href="mailto:stalep@gmail.com">Ståle Pedersen</a>
@@ -51,6 +53,10 @@ private void registerTasks(Project project) {
                 });
 
         tasks.create("buildNative", QuarkusNative.class).dependsOn(quarkusBuild);
+
+        // Quarkus test configuration task which should be executed before any Quarkus test
+        final QuarkusTestConfig quarkusTestConfig = tasks.create("quarkusTestConfig", QuarkusTestConfig.class);
+        tasks.withType(Test.class).forEach(t -> t.dependsOn(quarkusTestConfig));
     }
 
     private void verifyGradleVersion() {
diff --git a/devtools/gradle/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/tasks/QuarkusTestConfig.java b/devtools/gradle/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/tasks/QuarkusTestConfig.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..459de25f8dec8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/devtools/gradle/src/main/java/io/quarkus/gradle/tasks/QuarkusTestConfig.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+package io.quarkus.gradle.tasks;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.TaskAction;
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.testing.Test;
+
+import io.quarkus.bootstrap.BootstrapClassLoaderFactory;
+import io.quarkus.bootstrap.model.AppDependency;
+import io.quarkus.gradle.QuarkusPluginExtension;
+
+public class QuarkusTestConfig extends QuarkusTask {
+
+    public QuarkusTestConfig() {
+        super("Sets the necessary system properties for the Quarkus tests to run.");
+    }
+
+    @TaskAction
+    public void setupTest() {
+        final QuarkusPluginExtension quarkusExt = extension();
+        try {
+            final List<AppDependency> deploymentDeps = quarkusExt.resolveAppModel().resolveModel(quarkusExt.getAppArtifact())
+                    .getDeploymentDependencies();
+            final StringBuilder buf = new StringBuilder();
+            for (AppDependency dep : deploymentDeps) {
+                buf.append(dep.getArtifact().getPath().toUri().toURL().toExternalForm());
+                buf.append(' ');
+            }
+            final String deploymentCp = buf.toString();
+            final String nativeRunner = getProject().getBuildDir().toPath().resolve(quarkusExt.finalName() + "-runner")
+                    .toAbsolutePath()
+                    .toString();
+
+            for (Test test : getProject().getTasks().withType(Test.class)) {
+                final Map<String, Object> props = test.getSystemProperties();
+                props.put(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_DEPLOYMENT_CP, deploymentCp);
+                props.put("native.image.path", nativeRunner);
+            }
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to resolve deployment classpath", e);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/independent-projects/bootstrap/core/src/main/java/io/quarkus/bootstrap/BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.java b/independent-projects/bootstrap/core/src/main/java/io/quarkus/bootstrap/BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.java
index 0bccbb9171bce..47ba356641da1 100644
--- a/independent-projects/bootstrap/core/src/main/java/io/quarkus/bootstrap/BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.java
+++ b/independent-projects/bootstrap/core/src/main/java/io/quarkus/bootstrap/BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.java
@@ -35,8 +35,9 @@ public class BootstrapClassLoaderFactory {
     private static final String DEPLOYMENT_CP = "deployment.cp";
 
     public static final String PROP_CP_CACHE = "quarkus-classpath-cache";
-    public static final String PROP_WS_DISCOVERY = "quarkus-workspace-discovery";
+    public static final String PROP_DEPLOYMENT_CP = "quarkus-deployment-cp";
     public static final String PROP_OFFLINE = "quarkus-bootstrap-offline";
+    public static final String PROP_WS_DISCOVERY = "quarkus-workspace-discovery";
 
     private static final int CP_CACHE_FORMAT_ID = 1;
 
diff --git a/test-framework/junit5/src/main/java/io/quarkus/test/junit/QuarkusTestExtension.java b/test-framework/junit5/src/main/java/io/quarkus/test/junit/QuarkusTestExtension.java
index c122b7898cbd1..7c9fbb9ce8a61 100644
--- a/test-framework/junit5/src/main/java/io/quarkus/test/junit/QuarkusTestExtension.java
+++ b/test-framework/junit5/src/main/java/io/quarkus/test/junit/QuarkusTestExtension.java
@@ -7,11 +7,13 @@
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.URL;
 import java.net.URLClassLoader;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -73,18 +75,7 @@ private ExtensionState doJavaStart(ExtensionContext context, TestResourceManager
 
         Path appClassLocation = getAppClassLocation(context.getRequiredTestClass());
 
-        try {
-            appCl = BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.newInstance()
-                    .setAppClasses(appClassLocation)
-                    .setParent(getClass().getClassLoader())
-                    .setOffline(PropertyUtils.getBooleanOrNull(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_OFFLINE))
-                    .setLocalProjectsDiscovery(
-                            PropertyUtils.getBoolean(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_WS_DISCOVERY, true))
-                    .setEnableClasspathCache(PropertyUtils.getBoolean(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_CP_CACHE, true))
-                    .newDeploymentClassLoader();
-        } catch (BootstrapException e) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to create the boostrap class loader", e);
-        }
+        appCl = createQuarkusBuildClassLoader(appClassLocation);
         originalCl = setCCL(appCl);
 
         final Path testClassLocation = getTestClassesLocation(context.getRequiredTestClass());
@@ -262,6 +253,47 @@ public void run() {
         return new ExtensionState(testResourceManager, shutdownTask, false);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates a classloader that will be used to build the test application.
+     *
+     * This method assumes that the runtime classes are already on the classpath
+     * of the classloader that loaded this class.
+     * What this method does is it resolves the required deployment classpath
+     * and creates a new URL classloader that includes the deployment CP with
+     * the classloader that loaded this class as its parent.
+     *
+     * @param appClassLocation location of the test application classes
+     * @return application build classloader
+     */
+    private URLClassLoader createQuarkusBuildClassLoader(Path appClassLocation) {
+        // The deployment classpath could be passed in as a system property.
+        // This is how integration with the Gradle plugin is achieved.
+        final String deploymentCp = PropertyUtils.getProperty(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_DEPLOYMENT_CP);
+        if (deploymentCp != null && !deploymentCp.isEmpty()) {
+            final List<URL> list = new ArrayList<>();
+            for (String entry : deploymentCp.split("\\s")) {
+                try {
+                    list.add(new URL(entry));
+                } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
+                    throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to parse a deployment classpath entry " + entry, e);
+                }
+            }
+            return new URLClassLoader(list.toArray(new URL[list.size()]), getClass().getClassLoader());
+        }
+        try {
+            return BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.newInstance()
+                    .setAppClasses(appClassLocation)
+                    .setParent(getClass().getClassLoader())
+                    .setOffline(PropertyUtils.getBooleanOrNull(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_OFFLINE))
+                    .setLocalProjectsDiscovery(
+                            PropertyUtils.getBoolean(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_WS_DISCOVERY, true))
+                    .setEnableClasspathCache(PropertyUtils.getBoolean(BootstrapClassLoaderFactory.PROP_CP_CACHE, true))
+                    .newDeploymentClassLoader();
+        } catch (BootstrapException e) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to create the boostrap class loader", e);
+        }
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void afterEach(ExtensionContext context) throws Exception {
         restAssuredURLManager.clearURL();