diff --git a/tests/runtests.pl b/tests/runtests.pl
index 633485577..25f471adf 100755
--- a/tests/runtests.pl
+++ b/tests/runtests.pl
@@ -1804,10 +1804,6 @@ sub singletest {
         last;
     }
 
-    if(!$why) {
-        $why = serverfortest($testnum);
-    }
-
     if(!$why) {
         my @keywords = getpart("info", "keywords");
         my $k;
@@ -1819,6 +1815,10 @@ sub singletest {
         }
     }
 
+    if(!$why) {
+        $why = serverfortest($testnum);
+    }
+
     if(!$why) {
         my @precheck = getpart("client", "precheck");
         $cmd = $precheck[0];