diff --git a/tests/test-lib.sh b/tests/test-lib.sh
index 8e0ce83e11..49e8d22095 100644
--- a/tests/test-lib.sh
+++ b/tests/test-lib.sh
@@ -232,6 +232,12 @@ if test -n "$VIR_TEST_DEBUG" || test -n "$VIR_TEST_VERBOSE" ; then
   verbose=1
 fi
 
+debug() { :; }
+
+if test "$VIR_TEST_DEBUG" = "2"; then
+  debug() { echo "$@"; }
+fi
+
 # This is a stub function that is run upon trap (upon regular exit and
 # interrupt).  Override it with a per-test function, e.g., to unmount
 # a partition, or to undo any other global state changes.
diff --git a/tests/virsh-uriprecedence b/tests/virsh-uriprecedence
index 1cf3d22ec7..564e3dc42c 100755
--- a/tests/virsh-uriprecedence
+++ b/tests/virsh-uriprecedence
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
 test_intro "virsh-uriprecedence"
 
 virsh_bin="$abs_top_builddir/tools/virsh"
-counter=1
+virsh_cmd="$virsh_bin"
+counter=0
 ret=0
 
 cleanup_() { rm -rf "$tmphome"; }
@@ -22,16 +23,44 @@ mkdir -p "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt" "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/virsh"
 mkdir -p "$XDG_CACHE_HOME/libvirt" "$XDG_CACHE_HOME/virsh"
 mkdir -p "$XDG_RUNTIME_HOME/libvirt" "$XDG_RUNTIME_HOME/virsh"
 
-# Main function checking for the proper uri being returned
+is_uri_good()
+{
+    echo "$1" | grep -q -F "$good_uri"
+}
+
+test_uri_internal()
+{
+    test_name=$1
+    test_cmd="$virsh_cmd \"$2\""
+    result=0
+
+    debug "Running '$test_cmd'"
+    out="$($virsh_cmd "$2")"
+
+    if ! is_uri_good "$out"; then
+        debug "Invalid output: '$out'"
+        result=1
+        ret=1
+    fi
+
+    counter="$((counter+1))"
+    test_result "$counter" "$1" "$result"
+}
+
+test_uri_connect()
+{
+    test_uri_internal "$1" "connect; uri"
+}
+
+test_uri_noconnect()
+{
+    test_uri_internal "$1" "uri"
+}
+
 test_uri()
 {
-  result=0
-  if [ "$($virsh_bin uri)" != "$good_uri" ]; then
-      result=1
-      ret=1
-  fi
-  test_result "$counter" "$1" "$result"
-  counter="$((counter+1))"
+    test_uri_connect "$1"
+    test_uri_noconnect "$1"
 }
 
 # Precedence is the following (lowest priority first):
@@ -56,6 +85,7 @@ good_uri="test:///default?good_uri"
 
 printf "uri_default=\"%s\"\n" "$good_uri" >"$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/libvirt/libvirt.conf"
 if uid_is_privileged_; then
+    counter="$((counter+1))"
     test_skip_case "$counter" "User config file" "must not be run as root"
 else
     test_uri "User config file"
@@ -70,10 +100,8 @@ export VIRSH_DEFAULT_CONNECT_URI="$good_uri"
 test_uri "VIRSH_DEFAULT_CONNECT_URI"
 
 export VIRSH_DEFAULT_CONNECT_URI="$bad_uri"
-virsh_bin="$virsh_bin --connect $good_uri"
+virsh_cmd="$virsh_bin --connect $good_uri"
 test_uri "Parameter"
 
-# test_uri() increases $counter even for the last test, so we must
-# decrement it
-test_final "$((counter-1))" "$ret"
+test_final "$counter" "$ret"
 (exit "$ret"); exit "$ret"
diff --git a/tools/virsh.c b/tools/virsh.c
index af07251087..2a807d99af 100644
--- a/tools/virsh.c
+++ b/tools/virsh.c
@@ -211,10 +211,11 @@ virshConnect(vshControl *ctl, const char *uri, bool readonly)
  *
  */
 static void
-virshReconnect(vshControl *ctl)
+virshReconnect(vshControl *ctl, const char *name, bool readonly, bool force)
 {
     bool connected = false;
     virshControlPtr priv = ctl->privData;
+    bool ro = name ? readonly : priv->readonly;
 
     if (priv->conn) {
         int ret;
@@ -229,7 +230,7 @@ virshReconnect(vshControl *ctl)
                                   "disconnect from the hypervisor"));
     }
 
-    priv->conn = virshConnect(ctl, ctl->connname, priv->readonly);
+    priv->conn = virshConnect(ctl, name ? name : ctl->connname, ro);
 
     if (!priv->conn) {
         if (disconnected)
@@ -237,10 +238,15 @@ virshReconnect(vshControl *ctl)
         else
             vshError(ctl, "%s", _("failed to connect to the hypervisor"));
     } else {
+        if (name) {
+            VIR_FREE(ctl->connname);
+            ctl->connname = vshStrdup(ctl, name);
+            priv->readonly = readonly;
+        }
         if (virConnectRegisterCloseCallback(priv->conn, virshCatchDisconnect,
                                             ctl, NULL) < 0)
             vshError(ctl, "%s", _("Unable to register disconnect callback"));
-        if (connected)
+        if (connected && !force)
             vshError(ctl, "%s", _("Reconnected to the hypervisor"));
     }
     disconnected = 0;
@@ -291,43 +297,11 @@ cmdConnect(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
 {
     bool ro = vshCommandOptBool(cmd, "readonly");
     const char *name = NULL;
-    virshControlPtr priv = ctl->privData;
-    virConnectPtr conn;
 
     if (vshCommandOptStringReq(ctl, cmd, "name", &name) < 0)
         return false;
 
-    conn = virshConnect(ctl, name, ro);
-
-    if (!conn) {
-        vshError(ctl, "%s", _("Failed to connect to the hypervisor"));
-        return false;
-    }
-
-    if (priv->conn) {
-        int ret;
-
-        virConnectUnregisterCloseCallback(priv->conn, virshCatchDisconnect);
-        ret = virConnectClose(priv->conn);
-        if (ret < 0)
-            vshError(ctl, "%s", _("Failed to disconnect from the hypervisor"));
-        else if (ret > 0)
-            vshError(ctl, "%s", _("One or more references were leaked after "
-                                  "disconnect from the hypervisor"));
-    }
-    priv->conn = conn;
-
-    VIR_FREE(ctl->connname);
-    ctl->connname = vshStrdup(ctl, name);
-
-    priv->useGetInfo = false;
-    priv->useSnapshotOld = false;
-    priv->blockJobNoBytes = false;
-    priv->readonly = ro;
-
-    if (virConnectRegisterCloseCallback(priv->conn, virshCatchDisconnect,
-                                        ctl, NULL) < 0)
-        vshError(ctl, "%s", _("Unable to register disconnect callback"));
+    virshReconnect(ctl, name, ro, true);
 
     return true;
 }
@@ -360,7 +334,7 @@ virshConnectionHandler(vshControl *ctl)
     virshControlPtr priv = ctl->privData;
 
     if (!priv->conn || disconnected)
-        virshReconnect(ctl);
+        virshReconnect(ctl, NULL, false, false);
 
     if (virshConnectionUsability(ctl, priv->conn))
         return priv->conn;
@@ -431,7 +405,7 @@ virshInit(vshControl *ctl)
         return false;
 
     if (ctl->connname) {
-        virshReconnect(ctl);
+        virshReconnect(ctl, NULL, false, false);
         /* Connecting to a named connection must succeed, but we delay
          * connecting to the default connection until we need it
          * (since the first command might be 'connect' which allows a
diff --git a/tools/virt-admin.c b/tools/virt-admin.c
index 22160ad929..4275aa37a1 100644
--- a/tools/virt-admin.c
+++ b/tools/virt-admin.c
@@ -291,8 +291,10 @@ cmdConnect(vshControl *ctl, const vshCmd *cmd)
     if (vshCommandOptStringReq(ctl, cmd, "name", &name) < 0)
         return false;
 
-    VIR_FREE(ctl->connname);
-    ctl->connname = vshStrdup(ctl, name);
+    if (name) {
+        VIR_FREE(ctl->connname);
+        ctl->connname = vshStrdup(ctl, name);
+    }
 
     vshAdmReconnect(ctl);
     if (!connected)