diff --git a/core/core-editor.el b/core/core-editor.el
index faa66ea9f..b39230c5b 100644
--- a/core/core-editor.el
+++ b/core/core-editor.el
@@ -134,8 +134,9 @@ savehist file."
               "^/var/folders/.+$"
               ;; ignore private DOOM temp files (but not all of them)
               (lambda (file) (file-in-directory-p file doom-local-dir))))
-  (add-hook 'kill-emacs-hook #'recentf-cleanup)
-  (quiet! (recentf-mode +1)))
+  (unless noninteractive
+    (add-hook 'kill-emacs-hook #'recentf-cleanup)
+    (quiet! (recentf-mode +1))))
 
 (def-package! server
   :when (display-graphic-p)
diff --git a/core/core-tests.el b/core/core-tests.el
index 10db96efe..daf9b0f42 100644
--- a/core/core-tests.el
+++ b/core/core-tests.el
@@ -6,11 +6,10 @@ command line args following a double dash (each arg should be in the
 'module/submodule' format).
 
 If neither is available, run all tests in all enabled modules."
-  (let (noninteractive)
-    ;; Core libraries aren't fully loaded in a noninteractive session, so we
-    ;; reload it with `noninteractive' set to nil to force them to.
-    (quiet! (doom-reload-autoloads))
-    (doom-initialize t))
+  ;; Core libraries aren't fully loaded in a noninteractive session, so we
+  ;; reload it with `noninteractive' set to nil to force them to.
+  (quiet! (doom-reload-autoloads))
+  (doom-initialize t t)
   (let ((target-paths
          ;; Convert targets into a list of string paths, pointing to the root
          ;; directory of modules
diff --git a/core/core.el b/core/core.el
index 9f296cdac..7585e11b2 100644
--- a/core/core.el
+++ b/core/core.el
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ If RETURN-P, return the message as a string instead of displaying it."
 ;; Bootstrap functions
 ;;
 
-(defun doom-initialize (&optional force-p)
+(defun doom-initialize (&optional force-p force-load-core-p)
   "Bootstrap Doom, if it hasn't already (or if FORCE-P is non-nil).
 
 The bootstrap process involves making sure 1) the essential directories exist,
@@ -368,7 +368,7 @@ to least)."
       (user-error "Your package autoloads are missing! Run `bin/doom refresh' to regenerate them")))
 
   (require 'core-os)
-  (unless noninteractive
+  (when (or force-load-core-p (not noninteractive))
     (add-hook! 'emacs-startup-hook
       #'(doom|post-init doom|display-benchmark))
     (require 'core-ui)