diff --git a/spec/acceptance/mysql_db_spec.rb b/spec/acceptance/mysql_db_spec.rb
index 88ded3a..8c57160 100644
--- a/spec/acceptance/mysql_db_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acceptance/mysql_db_spec.rb
@@ -2,28 +2,26 @@ require 'spec_helper_acceptance'
 
 describe 'mysql::db define' do
   describe 'creating a database' do
-    # Using puppet_apply as a helper
-    it 'should work with no errors' do
-      pp = <<-EOS
+    let(:pp) do
+      <<-EOS
         class { 'mysql::server': root_password => 'password' }
         mysql::db { 'spec1':
           user     => 'root1',
           password => 'password',
         }
       EOS
+    end
+    it_behaves_like "a idempotent resource"
 
-      # Run it twice and test for idempotency
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes => true)
-
-      expect(shell("mysql -e 'show databases;'|grep spec1").exit_code).to be_zero
+    describe command("mysql -e 'show databases;'") do
+      its(:exit_status) { is_expected.to eq 0 }
+      its(:stdout) { is_expected.to match /^spec1$/ }
     end
   end
 
   describe 'creating a database with post-sql' do
-    # Using puppet_apply as a helper
-    it 'should work with no errors' do
-      pp = <<-EOS
+    let(:pp) do
+      <<-EOS
         class { 'mysql::server': override_options => { 'root_password' => 'password' } }
         file { '/tmp/spec.sql':
           ensure  => file,
@@ -36,21 +34,19 @@ describe 'mysql::db define' do
           sql      => '/tmp/spec.sql',
         }
       EOS
-
-      # Run it twice and test for idempotency
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes => true)
     end
+    it_behaves_like "a idempotent resource"
 
-    it 'should have the table' do
-      expect(shell("mysql -e 'show tables;' spec2|grep table1").exit_code).to be_zero
+    describe command("mysql -e 'show tables;' spec2") do
+      its(:exit_status) { is_expected.to eq 0 }
+      its(:stdout) { is_expected.to match /^table1$/ }
     end
   end
 
   describe 'creating a database with dbname parameter' do
-    # Using puppet_apply as a helper
-    it 'should work with no errors' do
-      pp = <<-EOS
+    let(:check_command) { " | grep realdb" }
+    let(:pp) do
+      <<-EOS
         class { 'mysql::server': override_options => { 'root_password' => 'password' } }
         mysql::db { 'spec1':
           user     => 'root1',
@@ -58,14 +54,12 @@ describe 'mysql::db define' do
           dbname   => 'realdb',
         }
       EOS
-
-      # Run it twice and test for idempotency
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes => true)
     end
+    it_behaves_like "a idempotent resource"
 
-    it 'should have the database named realdb' do
-      expect(shell("mysql -e 'show databases;'|grep realdb").exit_code).to be_zero
+    describe command("mysql -e 'show databases;'") do
+      its(:exit_status) { is_expected.to eq 0 }
+      its(:stdout) { is_expected.to match /^realdb$/ }
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/acceptance/mysql_server_spec.rb b/spec/acceptance/mysql_server_spec.rb
index e19be55..8589ea2 100644
--- a/spec/acceptance/mysql_server_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/acceptance/mysql_server_spec.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 require 'spec_helper_acceptance'
 
 describe 'mysql class' do
-
-  describe 'running puppet code' do
-    # Using puppet_apply as a helper
-    it 'should work with no errors' do
-      tmpdir = default.tmpdir('mysql')
-      pp = <<-EOS
+  describe 'advanced config' do
+    let(:tmpdir) { default.tmpdir('mysql') }
+    let(:pp) do
+      <<-EOS
         class { 'mysql::server':
           config_file             => '#{tmpdir}/my.cnf',
           includedir              => '#{tmpdir}/include',
@@ -46,39 +44,33 @@ describe 'mysql class' do
           }
         }
       EOS
-
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes => true)
     end
+
+    it_behaves_like "a idempotent resource"
   end
 
-  describe 'configuration needed for syslog' do
-    it 'should work with no errors' do
-      pp = <<-EOS
+  describe 'syslog configuration' do
+    let(:pp) do
+      <<-EOS
         class { 'mysql::server':
           override_options => { 'mysqld' => { 'log-error' => undef }, 'mysqld_safe' => { 'log-error' => false, 'syslog' => true }},
         }
       EOS
-
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
-      apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes => true)
     end
+
+    it_behaves_like "a idempotent resource"
   end
 
-  describe 'when changing the password' do
+  context 'when changing the password' do
     let(:password) { 'THE NEW SECRET' }
-    let(:manifest) { "class { 'mysql::server': root_password => '#{password}' }" }
+    let(:pp) { "class { 'mysql::server': root_password => '#{password}' }" }
 
     it 'should not display the password' do
-      result = apply_manifest(manifest, :expect_changes => true)
+      result = apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
       # this does not actually prove anything, as show_diff in the puppet config defaults to false.
       expect(result.stdout).not_to match /#{password}/
     end
 
-    it 'should be idempotent' do
-      result = apply_manifest(manifest, :catch_changes => true)
-    end
-
+    it_behaves_like "a idempotent resource"
   end
-
 end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb b/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb
index d232013..e9f138d 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper_acceptance.rb
@@ -47,3 +47,13 @@ RSpec.configure do |c|
     end
   end
 end
+
+shared_examples "a idempotent resource" do
+  it 'should apply with no errors' do
+    apply_manifest(pp, :catch_failures => true)
+  end
+
+  it 'should apply a second time without changes' do
+    apply_manifest(pp, :catch_changes => true)
+  end
+end