diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/endtoend/vstreamer_test.go b/go/vt/vttablet/endtoend/vstreamer_test.go
index 312273e0c84..8a027ee6961 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/endtoend/vstreamer_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/endtoend/vstreamer_test.go
@@ -188,9 +188,9 @@ func TestSchemaVersioning(t *testing.T) {
 	cancel()
 
 	log.Infof("\n\n\n=============================================== PAST EVENTS WITH TRACK VERSIONS START HERE ======================\n\n\n")
-	ctx, cancel = context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer cancel()
-	eventCh = make(chan []*binlogdatapb.VEvent)
+	ctx2, cancel2 := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel2()
+	eventCh2 := make(chan []*binlogdatapb.VEvent)
 	send = func(events []*binlogdatapb.VEvent) error {
 		var evs []*binlogdatapb.VEvent
 		for _, event := range events {
@@ -208,16 +208,16 @@ func TestSchemaVersioning(t *testing.T) {
 			return nil
 		}
 		select {
-		case eventCh <- evs:
-		case <-ctx.Done():
+		case eventCh2 <- evs:
+		case <-ctx2.Done():
 			t.Fatal("Context Done() in send")
 		}
 		return nil
 	}
 	go func() {
-		defer close(eventCh)
+		defer close(eventCh2)
 		req := &binlogdatapb.VStreamRequest{Target: target, Position: startPos, TableLastPKs: nil, Filter: filter}
-		if err := tsv.VStream(ctx, req, send); err != nil {
+		if err := tsv.VStream(ctx2, req, send); err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("Error in tsv.VStream: %v", err)
 			t.Error(err)
 		}
@@ -254,15 +254,14 @@ func TestSchemaVersioning(t *testing.T) {
 		`gtid`,
 	)
 
-	expectLogs(ctx, t, "Past stream", eventCh, output)
-
-	cancel()
+	expectLogs(ctx2, t, "Past stream", eventCh2, output)
+	cancel2()
 
 	log.Infof("\n\n\n=============================================== PAST EVENTS WITHOUT TRACK VERSIONS START HERE ======================\n\n\n")
 	tsv.EnableHistorian(false)
-	ctx, cancel = context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer cancel()
-	eventCh = make(chan []*binlogdatapb.VEvent)
+	ctx3, cancel3 := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer cancel3()
+	eventCh3 := make(chan []*binlogdatapb.VEvent)
 	send = func(events []*binlogdatapb.VEvent) error {
 		var evs []*binlogdatapb.VEvent
 		for _, event := range events {
@@ -280,16 +279,16 @@ func TestSchemaVersioning(t *testing.T) {
 			return nil
 		}
 		select {
-		case eventCh <- evs:
-		case <-ctx.Done():
+		case eventCh3 <- evs:
+		case <-ctx3.Done():
 			t.Fatal("Context Done() in send")
 		}
 		return nil
 	}
 	go func() {
-		defer close(eventCh)
+		defer close(eventCh3)
 		req := &binlogdatapb.VStreamRequest{Target: target, Position: startPos, TableLastPKs: nil, Filter: filter}
-		if err := tsv.VStream(ctx, req, send); err != nil {
+		if err := tsv.VStream(ctx3, req, send); err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("Error in tsv.VStream: %v", err)
 			t.Error(err)
 		}
@@ -329,8 +328,8 @@ func TestSchemaVersioning(t *testing.T) {
 		`gtid`,
 	)
 
-	expectLogs(ctx, t, "Past stream", eventCh, output)
-	cancel()
+	expectLogs(ctx3, t, "Past stream", eventCh3, output)
+	cancel3()
 
 	client := framework.NewClient()
 	client.Execute("drop table vitess_version", nil)
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go
index 02f20202b8d..420879e6ca3 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletserver/schema/engine.go
@@ -680,14 +680,16 @@ func (se *Engine) GetTableForPos(ctx context.Context, tableName sqlparser.Identi
 	if mt != nil {
 		return mt, nil
 	}
+	se.mu.Lock()
+	defer se.mu.Unlock()
 	// We got nothing from the historian, which generally means that it's not enabled.
 	// Whatever the reason, we should get the latest schema for the "current" position.
 	// In order to ensure this, we need to reload the latest schema first so that our
 	// cache is up to date and we do in fact return the latest/current table schema.
-	se.mu.Lock()
-	defer se.mu.Unlock()
-	if err := se.reload(ctx, true); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if se.conns != nil { // Test Engines (NewEngineForTests()) don't have a conns pool
+		if err := se.reload(ctx, true); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 	}
 	tableNameStr := tableName.String()
 	st, ok := se.tables[tableNameStr]