diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 366db500f3..33c24ada6d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 2.2.10
+ * Avoid starting gossiper in RemoveTest (CASSANDRA-13407)
  * Fix weightedSize() for row-cache reported by JMX and NodeTool (CASSANDRA-13393)
  * Fix JVM metric paths (CASSANDRA-13103)
  * Honor truststore-password parameter in cassandra-stress (CASSANDRA-12773)
diff --git a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/RemoveTest.java b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/RemoveTest.java
index 9f1d6a8d2a..800c90467f 100644
--- a/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/RemoveTest.java
+++ b/test/unit/org/apache/cassandra/service/RemoveTest.java
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ import org.apache.cassandra.dht.IPartitioner;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.RandomPartitioner;
 import org.apache.cassandra.dht.Token;
 import org.apache.cassandra.exceptions.ConfigurationException;
-import org.apache.cassandra.gms.Gossiper;
 import org.apache.cassandra.locator.TokenMetadata;
 import org.apache.cassandra.net.MessageOut;
 import org.apache.cassandra.net.MessagingService;
@@ -61,7 +60,7 @@ public class RemoveTest
     public static void setupClass() throws ConfigurationException
     {
         oldPartitioner = StorageService.instance.setPartitionerUnsafe(partitioner);
-        SchemaLoader.loadSchema();
+        SchemaLoader.prepareServer();
     }
 
     @AfterClass
@@ -79,7 +78,6 @@ public class RemoveTest
         Util.createInitialRing(ss, partitioner, endpointTokens, keyTokens, hosts, hostIds, 6);
 
         MessagingService.instance().listen();
-        Gossiper.instance.start(1);
         removalhost = hosts.get(5);
         hosts.remove(removalhost);
         removalId = hostIds.get(5);