diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap
index dd79687ea02c3..04122fbf55f95 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ Object {
   ],
   "createLogger": [Function],
   "extraKbnOpts": undefined,
-  "kibana-install-dir": "foo",
+  "installDir": "foo",
 }
 `;
 
diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/args.js b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/args.js
index 55d4cfb27c680..5fdc738c4517a 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/args.js
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/run_tests/args.js
@@ -93,6 +93,11 @@ export function processOptions(userOptions, defaultConfigPaths) {
     }
   }
 
+  if (userOptions['kibana-install-dir']) {
+    userOptions.installDir = userOptions['kibana-install-dir'];
+    delete userOptions['kibana-install-dir'];
+  }
+
   function createLogger() {
     const log = createToolingLog(pickLevelFromFlags(userOptions));
     log.pipe(process.stdout);
diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap
index 5c9f5a9a8d7fc..4c022abdf1f01 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/__snapshots__/args.test.js.snap
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ Object {
   ],
   "createLogger": [Function],
   "extraKbnOpts": undefined,
-  "kibana-install-dir": "foo",
+  "installDir": "foo",
 }
 `;
 
diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/args.js b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/args.js
index 55a69d0bd15bd..bc3d97ab0641f 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/args.js
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/cli/start_servers/args.js
@@ -80,6 +80,11 @@ export function processOptions(userOptions, defaultConfigPath) {
     throw new Error(`functional_tests_server: config is required`);
   }
 
+  if (userOptions['kibana-install-dir']) {
+    userOptions.installDir = userOptions['kibana-install-dir'];
+    delete userOptions['kibana-install-dir'];
+  }
+
   function createLogger() {
     const log = createToolingLog(pickLevelFromFlags(userOptions));
     log.pipe(process.stdout);
diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/tasks.js b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/tasks.js
index 802d84d4b6a20..0c85c041b02f2 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/tasks.js
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/tasks.js
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ export async function startServers(options) {
       config,
       options: {
         ...opts,
-        extraKbnOpts: [...options.extraKbnOpts, '--dev'],
+        extraKbnOpts: [...options.extraKbnOpts, ...(options.installDir ? [] : ['--dev'])],
       },
     });
 
diff --git a/scripts/functional_tests.js b/scripts/functional_tests.js
index 75e4eab07ac06..1302355c49d21 100644
--- a/scripts/functional_tests.js
+++ b/scripts/functional_tests.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
  */
 
 require('../src/setup_node_env');
-require('../packages/kbn-test').runTestsCli([
+require('@kbn/test').runTestsCli([
   require.resolve('../test/functional/config.js'),
   require.resolve('../test/api_integration/config.js'),
 ]);
diff --git a/src/core/public/legacy_platform/legacy_platform_service.ts b/src/core/public/legacy_platform/legacy_platform_service.ts
index ed7976bfa2a35..5b678b45ad736 100644
--- a/src/core/public/legacy_platform/legacy_platform_service.ts
+++ b/src/core/public/legacy_platform/legacy_platform_service.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export class LegacyPlatformService {
     if (this.params.useLegacyTestHarness) {
       // wrapped in NODE_ENV check so the `ui/test_harness` module
       // is not included in the distributable
-      if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
+      if (process.env.IS_KIBANA_DISTRIBUTABLE !== 'true') {
         return require('ui/test_harness');
       }
 
diff --git a/src/optimize/base_optimizer.js b/src/optimize/base_optimizer.js
index 8d63525f90fb2..8318f6ebb4cd7 100644
--- a/src/optimize/base_optimizer.js
+++ b/src/optimize/base_optimizer.js
@@ -286,8 +286,20 @@ export default class BaseOptimizer {
       },
     };
 
-    // we transpile typescript in the optimizer unless we are running the distributable
-    const transpileTsConfig = {
+    // when running from the distributable define an environment variable we can use
+    // to exclude chunks of code, modules, etc.
+    const isDistributableConfig = {
+      plugins: [
+        new webpack.DefinePlugin({
+          'process.env': {
+            'IS_KIBANA_DISTRIBUTABLE': `"true"`
+          }
+        }),
+      ]
+    };
+
+    // when running from source transpile TypeScript automatically
+    const isSourceConfig = {
       module: {
         rules: [
           {
@@ -371,8 +383,8 @@ export default class BaseOptimizer {
     return webpackMerge(
       commonConfig,
       IS_KIBANA_DISTRIBUTABLE
-        ? {}
-        : transpileTsConfig,
+        ? isDistributableConfig
+        : isSourceConfig,
       this.uiBundles.isDevMode()
         ? webpackMerge(watchingConfig, supportEnzymeConfig)
         : productionConfig
diff --git a/test/common/services/kibana_server/version.js b/test/common/services/kibana_server/version.js
index 1b13ba6c411ab..b7efb01c63449 100644
--- a/test/common/services/kibana_server/version.js
+++ b/test/common/services/kibana_server/version.js
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ export class KibanaServerVersion {
 
     const status = await this.kibanaStatus.get();
     if (status && status.version && status.version.number) {
-      this._cachedVersionNumber = status.version.number;
+      this._cachedVersionNumber = status.version.number + (status.version.build_snapshot ? '-SNAPSHOT' : '');
       return this._cachedVersionNumber;
     }