diff --git a/lib/connection-parameters.js b/lib/connection-parameters.js
index bbbbf1d..e006e58 100644
--- a/lib/connection-parameters.js
+++ b/lib/connection-parameters.js
@@ -4,18 +4,7 @@ var val = function(key, config) {
   return config[key] || 
     process.env['PG' + key.toUpperCase()] || 
     defaults[key];
-}
-
-var ConnectionParameters = function(config) {
-  config = typeof config == 'string' ? parse(config) : (config || {});
-  this.user = val('user', config);
-  this.database = val('database', config);
-  this.port = parseInt(val('port', config));
-  this.host = val('host', config);
-  this.password = val('password', config);
-  this.binary = val('binary', config);
-  this.ssl = config.ssl || defaults.ssl;
-}
+};
 
 var url = require('url');
 //parses a connection string
@@ -33,6 +22,17 @@ var parse = function(str) {
   config.password = auth[1];
   config.port = result.port;
   return config;
-}
+};
+
+var ConnectionParameters = function(config) {
+  config = typeof config == 'string' ? parse(config) : (config || {});
+  this.user = val('user', config);
+  this.database = val('database', config);
+  this.port = parseInt(val('port', config));
+  this.host = val('host', config);
+  this.password = val('password', config);
+  this.binary = val('binary', config);
+  this.ssl = config.ssl || defaults.ssl;
+};
 
 module.exports = ConnectionParameters;
diff --git a/test/unit/connection-parameters/creation-tests.js b/test/unit/connection-parameters/creation-tests.js
index de22c6d..e8306b6 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection-parameters/creation-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection-parameters/creation-tests.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-var test = require('tap').test;
-
+var helper = require(__dirname + '/../test-helper');
+var assert = require('assert');
 var ConnectionParameters = require(__dirname + '/../../../lib/connection-parameters');
 var defaults = require(__dirname + '/../../../lib').defaults;
 
@@ -8,29 +8,27 @@ for(var key in process.env) {
   delete process.env[key];
 }
 
-test('ConnectionParameters construction', function(t) {
-  t.ok(new ConnectionParameters(), 'with null config');
-  t.ok(new ConnectionParameters({user: 'asdf'}), 'with config object');
-  t.ok(new ConnectionParameters('pg://localhost/postgres'), 'with connection string');
-  t.end();
-})
+test('ConnectionParameters construction', function() {
+  assert.ok(new ConnectionParameters(), 'with null config');
+  assert.ok(new ConnectionParameters({user: 'asdf'}), 'with config object');
+  assert.ok(new ConnectionParameters('pg://localhost/postgres'), 'with connection string');
+});
 
-var compare = function(t, actual, expected, type) {
-  t.equal(actual.user, expected.user, type + ' user');
-  t.equal(actual.database, expected.database, type + ' database');
-  t.equal(actual.port, expected.port, type + ' port');
-  t.equal(actual.host, expected.host, type + ' host');
-  t.equal(actual.password, expected.password, type + ' password');
-  t.equal(actual.binary, expected.binary, type + ' binary');
-}
+var compare = function(actual, expected, type) {
+  assert.equal(actual.user, expected.user, type + ' user');
+  assert.equal(actual.database, expected.database, type + ' database');
+  assert.equal(actual.port, expected.port, type + ' port');
+  assert.equal(actual.host, expected.host, type + ' host');
+  assert.equal(actual.password, expected.password, type + ' password');
+  assert.equal(actual.binary, expected.binary, type + ' binary');
+};
 
-test('ConnectionParameters initializing from defaults', function(t) {
+test('ConnectionParameters initializing from defaults', function() {
   var subject = new ConnectionParameters();
-  compare(t, subject, defaults, 'defaults');
-  t.end();
-})
+  compare(subject, defaults, 'defaults');
+});
 
-test('ConnectionParameters initializing from config', function(t) {
+test('ConnectionParameters initializing from config', function() {
   var config = {
     user: 'brian',
     database: 'home',
@@ -42,8 +40,7 @@ test('ConnectionParameters initializing from config', function(t) {
     ssl: {
       asdf: 'blah'
     }
-  }
+  };
   var subject = new ConnectionParameters(config);
-  compare(t, subject, config, 'config');
-  t.end();
-})
+  compare(subject, config, 'config');
+});
diff --git a/test/unit/connection-parameters/environment-variable-tests.js b/test/unit/connection-parameters/environment-variable-tests.js
index 2edc25a..61a0095 100644
--- a/test/unit/connection-parameters/environment-variable-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/connection-parameters/environment-variable-tests.js
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
-var test = require('tap').test;
-
+var helper = require(__dirname + '/../test-helper');
+var assert = require('assert');
 var ConnectionParameters = require(__dirname + '/../../../lib/connection-parameters');
 var defaults = require(__dirname + '/../../../lib').defaults;
 
-
 //clear process.env
 var realEnv = {};
 for(var key in process.env) {
@@ -11,7 +10,6 @@ for(var key in process.env) {
   delete process.env[key];
 }
 
-
 test('ConnectionParameters initialized from environment variables', function(t) {
   process.env['PGHOST'] = 'local';
   process.env['PGUSER'] = 'bmc2';
@@ -20,13 +18,12 @@ test('ConnectionParameters initialized from environment variables', function(t)
   process.env['PGPASSWORD'] = 'open';
 
   var subject = new ConnectionParameters();
-  t.equal(subject.host, 'local', 'env host');
-  t.equal(subject.user, 'bmc2', 'env user');
-  t.equal(subject.port, 7890, 'env port');
-  t.equal(subject.database, 'allyerbase', 'env database');
-  t.equal(subject.password, 'open', 'env password');
-  t.end();
-})
+  assert.equal(subject.host, 'local', 'env host');
+  assert.equal(subject.user, 'bmc2', 'env user');
+  assert.equal(subject.port, 7890, 'env port');
+  assert.equal(subject.database, 'allyerbase', 'env database');
+  assert.equal(subject.password, 'open', 'env password');
+});
 
 test('ConnectionParameters initialized from mix', function(t) {
   delete process.env['PGPASSWORD'];
@@ -34,14 +31,13 @@ test('ConnectionParameters initialized from mix', function(t) {
   var subject = new ConnectionParameters({
     user: 'testing',
     database: 'zugzug'
-  })
-  t.equal(subject.host, 'local', 'env host');
-  t.equal(subject.user, 'testing', 'config user');
-  t.equal(subject.port, 7890, 'env port');
-  t.equal(subject.database, 'zugzug', 'config database');
-  t.equal(subject.password, defaults.password, 'defaults password');
-  t.end();
-})
+  });
+  assert.equal(subject.host, 'local', 'env host');
+  assert.equal(subject.user, 'testing', 'config user');
+  assert.equal(subject.port, 7890, 'env port');
+  assert.equal(subject.database, 'zugzug', 'config database');
+  assert.equal(subject.password, defaults.password, 'defaults password');
+});
 
 //clear process.env
 for(var key in process.env) {
@@ -51,13 +47,12 @@ for(var key in process.env) {
 test('connection string parsing', function(t) {
   var string = 'postgres://brian:pw@boom:381/lala';
   var subject = new ConnectionParameters(string);
-  t.equal(subject.host, 'boom', 'string host');
-  t.equal(subject.user, 'brian', 'string user');
-  t.equal(subject.password, 'pw', 'string password');
-  t.equal(subject.port, 381, 'string port');
-  t.equal(subject.database, 'lala', 'string database');
-  t.end();
-})
+  assert.equal(subject.host, 'boom', 'string host');
+  assert.equal(subject.user, 'brian', 'string user');
+  assert.equal(subject.password, 'pw', 'string password');
+  assert.equal(subject.port, 381, 'string port');
+  assert.equal(subject.database, 'lala', 'string database');
+});
 
 //restore process.env
 for(var key in realEnv) {
diff --git a/test/unit/utils-tests.js b/test/unit/utils-tests.js
index 53b78b3..03a3d38 100644
--- a/test/unit/utils-tests.js
+++ b/test/unit/utils-tests.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ var defaults = require(__dirname + "/../../lib").defaults;
 //this tests the monkey patching
 //to ensure comptability with older
 //versions of node
-test("EventEmitter.once", function() {
+test("EventEmitter.once", function(t) {
 
   //an event emitter
   var stream = new MemoryStream();