diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 8edfff05c8c..6d68b4400d3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -41,14 +41,10 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         node: [12, 14, 16, 18]
         os: [ubuntu-18.04, ubuntu-20.04]
-        mongodb: [4.0.2, 5.0.2, 6.0.0]
+        mongodb: [4.0.28, 5.0.8, 6.0.0]
         include:
-          - os: ubuntu-18.04
-            mongodb-os: ubuntu1804
-          - os: ubuntu-20.04
-            mongodb-os: ubuntu2004
           - os: ubuntu-20.04 # customize on which matrix the coverage will be collected on
-            mongodb: 5.0.2
+            mongodb: 5.0.11
             node: 16
             coverage: true
         exclude:
@@ -59,6 +55,9 @@ jobs:
           - os: ubuntu-20.04 # exclude because there are no <4.4 mongodb builds for 2004
             mongodb: 4.0.2
     name: Node ${{ matrix.node }} MongoDB ${{ matrix.mongodb }} OS ${{ matrix.os }}
+    env:
+      MONGOMS_VERSION: ${{ matrix.mongodb }}
+      MONGOMS_PREFER_GLOBAL_PATH: 1
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@2541b1294d2704b0964813337f33b291d3f8596b # v3.0.2
 
@@ -67,18 +66,14 @@ jobs:
         with:
           node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
 
-      - run: npm install
+      - name: Load MongoDB binary cache
+        id: cache-mongodb-binaries
+        uses: actions/cache@v3
+        with:
+          path: ~/.cache/mongodb-binaries
+          key: ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.mongodb }}
 
-      - name: Setup
-        run: |
-          wget -q https://downloads.mongodb.org/linux/mongodb-linux-x86_64-${{ matrix.mongodb-os }}-${{ matrix.mongodb }}.tgz
-          tar xf mongodb-linux-x86_64-${{ matrix.mongodb-os }}-${{ matrix.mongodb }}.tgz
-          mkdir -p ./data/db/27017 ./data/db/27000
-          printf "\ntimeout: 8000" >> ./.mocharc.yml
-          ./mongodb-linux-x86_64-${{ matrix.mongodb-os }}-${{ matrix.mongodb }}/bin/mongod --setParameter ttlMonitorSleepSecs=1 --fork --dbpath ./data/db/27017 --syslog --port 27017
-          sleep 2
-          mongod --version
-          echo `pwd`/mongodb-linux-x86_64-${{ matrix.mongodb-os }}-${{ matrix.mongodb }}/bin >> $GITHUB_PATH
+      - run: npm install
       - name: NPM Test without Coverage
         run: npm test
         if: matrix.coverage != true
diff --git a/.mocharc.yml b/.mocharc.yml
index 1810d04bb59..efa9bf8a87b 100644
--- a/.mocharc.yml
+++ b/.mocharc.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,4 @@
 reporter: spec # better to identify failing / slow tests than "dot"
 ui: bdd # explicitly setting, even though it is mocha default
+require:
+  - test/mocha-fixtures.js
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 5a2fc5d5a64..55701e9f481 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
     "mkdirp": "^1.0.4",
     "mocha": "10.0.0",
     "moment": "2.x",
-    "mongodb-memory-server": "8.9.1",
+    "mongodb-memory-server": "8.9.3",
     "ncp": "^2.0.0",
     "nyc": "15.1.0",
     "pug": "3.0.2",
diff --git a/test/common.js b/test/common.js
index 932ca2d1b37..6e036983c91 100644
--- a/test/common.js
+++ b/test/common.js
@@ -114,11 +114,15 @@ module.exports = function(options) {
   return conn;
 };
 
-function getUri(env, default_uri, db) {
+function getUri(default_uri, db) {
+  const env = process.env.START_REPLICA_SET ? process.env.MONGOOSE_REPLSET_URI : process.env.MONGOOSE_TEST_URI;
   const use = env ? env : default_uri;
   const lastIndex = use.lastIndexOf('/');
+  const dbQueryString = use.slice(lastIndex);
+  const queryIndex = dbQueryString.indexOf('?');
+  const query = queryIndex === -1 ? '' : '?' + dbQueryString.slice(queryIndex + 1);
   // use length if lastIndex is 9 or lower, because that would mean it found the last character of "mongodb://"
-  return use.slice(0, lastIndex <= 9 ? use.length : lastIndex) + `/${db}`;
+  return use.slice(0, lastIndex <= 9 ? use.length : lastIndex) + `/${db}` + query;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -134,13 +138,18 @@ const databases = module.exports.databases = [
  * testing uri
  */
 
-module.exports.uri = getUri(process.env.MONGOOSE_TEST_URI, 'mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/', databases[0]);
+// the following has to be done, otherwise mocha will evaluate this before running the global-setup, where it becomes the default
+Object.defineProperty(module.exports, 'uri', {
+  get: () => getUri('mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/', databases[0])
+});
 
 /**
  * testing uri for 2nd db
  */
 
-module.exports.uri2 = getUri(process.env.MONGOOSE_TEST_URI, 'mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/', databases[1]);
+Object.defineProperty(module.exports, 'uri2', {
+  get: () => getUri('mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/', databases[1])
+});
 
 /**
  * expose mongoose
@@ -177,28 +186,13 @@ module.exports.mongodVersion = async function() {
 };
 
 async function dropDBs() {
+  this.timeout(60000);
+
   const db = await module.exports({ noErrorListener: true }).asPromise();
   await db.dropDatabase();
   await db.close();
 }
 
-before(async function() {
-  this.timeout(60000);
-  if (process.env.START_REPLICA_SET) {
-    const uri = await startReplicaSet();
-
-    module.exports.uri = uri;
-    module.exports.uri2 = uri.replace(databases[0], databases[1]);
-
-    process.env.REPLICA_SET = 'rs0';
-
-    const conn = mongoose.createConnection(uri);
-    await conn.asPromise();
-    await conn.db.collection('test').findOne();
-    await conn.close();
-  }
-});
-
 before(dropDBs);
 
 after(dropDBs);
@@ -212,34 +206,3 @@ process.on('unhandledRejection', function(error, promise) {
   }
   throw error;
 });
-
-async function startReplicaSet() {
-  const ReplSet = require('mongodb-memory-server').MongoMemoryReplSet;
-
-  // Create new instance
-  const replSet = new ReplSet({
-    binary: {
-      version: '5.0.4'
-    },
-    instanceOpts: [
-      // Set the expiry job in MongoDB to run every second
-      {
-        port: 27017,
-        args: ['--setParameter', 'ttlMonitorSleepSecs=1']
-      }
-    ],
-    dbName: databases[0],
-    replSet: {
-      name: 'rs0',
-      count: 2,
-      storageEngine: 'wiredTiger'
-    }
-  });
-
-  await replSet.start();
-  await replSet.waitUntilRunning();
-
-  await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 10000));
-
-  return replSet.getUri(databases[0]);
-}
diff --git a/test/index.test.js b/test/index.test.js
index b67aee31763..49ae3c65242 100644
--- a/test/index.test.js
+++ b/test/index.test.js
@@ -717,13 +717,12 @@ describe('mongoose module:', function() {
 
     it('with replica set', async function() {
       const mong = new Mongoose();
-      const uri = process.env.MONGOOSE_SET_TEST_URI;
 
-      if (!uri) {
-        return;
+      if (!start.uri) {
+        return this.skip();
       }
 
-      await mong.connect(uri, options);
+      await mong.connect(start.uri, options);
 
       await mong.connection.close();
     });
diff --git a/test/mocha-fixtures.js b/test/mocha-fixtures.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e537071c52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/mocha-fixtures.js
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+'use strict';
+
+const mms = require('mongodb-memory-server');
+
+/*
+ * Default MMS mongodb version is used, unless MONGOMS_VERSION is set (which is set with the matrix in test.yml for CI)
+ */
+
+// a single-instance running for single-instance tests
+let mongoinstance;
+
+// a replset-instance for running repl-set tests
+let mongorreplset;
+
+// decide wheter to start a in-memory or not
+const startMemoryInstance = !process.env.MONGOOSE_TEST_URI;
+const startMemoryReplset = !process.env.MONGOOSE_REPLSET_URI;
+
+module.exports.mochaGlobalSetup = async function mochaGlobalSetup() {
+  let instanceuri;
+  let replseturi;
+
+  process.env.RUNTIME_DOWNLOAD = '1'; // ensure MMS is able to download binaries in this context
+
+  // set some options when running in a CI
+  if (process.env.CI) {
+    process.env.MONGOMS_PREFER_GLOBAL_PATH = '1'; // set MMS to use "~/.cache/mongodb-binaries" even when the path does not yet exist
+  }
+
+  if (startMemoryInstance) { // Config to decided if an mongodb-memory-server instance should be used
+    // it's needed in global space, because we don't want to create a new instance every test-suite
+    mongoinstance = await mms.MongoMemoryServer.create({ instance: { args: ['--setParameter', 'ttlMonitorSleepSecs=1'], storageEngine: 'wiredTiger' } });
+    instanceuri = mongoinstance.getUri();
+  } else {
+    instanceuri = process.env.MONGOOSE_TEST_URI;
+  }
+
+  if (startMemoryReplset) {
+    mongorreplset = await mms.MongoMemoryReplSet.create({ replSet: { count: 3, args: ['--setParameter', 'ttlMonitorSleepSecs=1'], storageEngine: 'wiredTiger' } }); // using 3 because even numbers can lead to vote problems
+    replseturi = mongorreplset.getUri();
+  } else {
+    replseturi = '';
+  }
+
+  process.env.MONGOOSE_TEST_URI = instanceuri;
+  process.env.MONGOOSE_REPLSET_URI = replseturi;
+};
+
+module.exports.mochaGlobalTeardown = async function mochaGlobalTeardown() {
+  if (mongoinstance) { // Config to decided if an mongodb-memory-server instance should be used
+    await mongoinstance.stop();
+  }
+  if (mongorreplset) {
+    await mongorreplset.stop();
+  }
+};