diff --git a/Code/Tools/AssetBundler/tests/tests_main.cpp b/Code/Tools/AssetBundler/tests/tests_main.cpp
index c530e681da..b38d09dacb 100644
--- a/Code/Tools/AssetBundler/tests/tests_main.cpp
+++ b/Code/Tools/AssetBundler/tests/tests_main.cpp
@@ -97,23 +97,7 @@ namespace AssetBundler
     {
     public:
         void SetUp() override
-        {
-            AZ::SettingsRegistryInterface* registry = nullptr;
-            if (!AZ::SettingsRegistry::Get())
-            {
-                AZ::SettingsRegistry::Register(&m_registry);
-                registry = &m_registry;
-                
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                registry = AZ::SettingsRegistry::Get();
-            }
-            auto projectPathKey = AZ::SettingsRegistryInterface::FixedValueString(AZ::SettingsRegistryMergeUtils::BootstrapSettingsRootKey)
-                + "/project_path";
-            registry->Set(projectPathKey, "AutomatedTesting");
-            AZ::SettingsRegistryMergeUtils::MergeSettingsToRegistry_AddRuntimeFilePaths(*registry);
-            
+        {          
             m_data = AZStd::make_unique<StaticData>();
             m_data->m_application.reset(aznew AzToolsFramework::ToolsApplication());
             m_data->m_application.get()->Start(AzFramework::Application::Descriptor());
@@ -129,6 +113,21 @@ namespace AssetBundler
                 GTEST_FATAL_FAILURE_(AZStd::string::format("Unable to locate engine root.\n").c_str());
             }
 
+            AZ::SettingsRegistryInterface* registry = nullptr;
+            if (!AZ::SettingsRegistry::Get())
+            {
+                AZ::SettingsRegistry::Register(&m_registry);
+                registry = &m_registry;
+                
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                registry = AZ::SettingsRegistry::Get();
+            }
+            auto projectPathKey = AZ::SettingsRegistryInterface::FixedValueString(AZ::SettingsRegistryMergeUtils::BootstrapSettingsRootKey)
+                + "/project_path";
+            registry->Set(projectPathKey, "AutomatedTesting");
+            AZ::SettingsRegistryMergeUtils::MergeSettingsToRegistry_AddRuntimeFilePaths(*registry);
 
             m_data->m_testEngineRoot = (engineRoot / RelativeTestFolder).LexicallyNormal().String();
 
diff --git a/Gems/LmbrCentral/Code/Tests/Builders/MaterialBuilderTests.cpp b/Gems/LmbrCentral/Code/Tests/Builders/MaterialBuilderTests.cpp
index 2a66882e06..9782c94f6c 100644
--- a/Gems/LmbrCentral/Code/Tests/Builders/MaterialBuilderTests.cpp
+++ b/Gems/LmbrCentral/Code/Tests/Builders/MaterialBuilderTests.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,14 @@ protected:
     {
         UnitTest::AllocatorsTestFixture::SetUp();
 
+        m_app.reset(aznew AzToolsFramework::ToolsApplication);
+        m_app->Start(AZ::ComponentApplication::Descriptor());
+        // Without this, the user settings component would attempt to save on finalize/shutdown. Since the file is
+        // shared across the whole engine, if multiple tests are run in parallel, the saving could cause a crash 
+        // in the unit tests.
+        AZ::UserSettingsComponentRequestBus::Broadcast(&AZ::UserSettingsComponentRequests::DisableSaveOnFinalize);
+        AZ::Debug::TraceMessageBus::Handler::BusConnect();
+
         AZ::SettingsRegistryInterface* registry = nullptr;
         if (!AZ::SettingsRegistry::Get())
         {
@@ -52,14 +60,6 @@ protected:
         registry->Set(projectPathKey, "AutomatedTesting");
         AZ::SettingsRegistryMergeUtils::MergeSettingsToRegistry_AddRuntimeFilePaths(*registry);
 
-        m_app.reset(aznew AzToolsFramework::ToolsApplication);
-        m_app->Start(AZ::ComponentApplication::Descriptor());
-        // Without this, the user settings component would attempt to save on finalize/shutdown. Since the file is
-        // shared across the whole engine, if multiple tests are run in parallel, the saving could cause a crash 
-        // in the unit tests.
-        AZ::UserSettingsComponentRequestBus::Broadcast(&AZ::UserSettingsComponentRequests::DisableSaveOnFinalize);
-        AZ::Debug::TraceMessageBus::Handler::BusConnect();
-
         const AZStd::string engineRoot = AZ::Test::GetEngineRootPath();
         AZ::IO::FileIOBase::GetInstance()->SetAlias("@engroot@", engineRoot.c_str());