diff --git a/spec/features/boards/sidebar_spec.rb b/spec/features/boards/sidebar_spec.rb
index 8d3d4ff8773..c3bf50ef9d1 100644
--- a/spec/features/boards/sidebar_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/boards/sidebar_spec.rb
@@ -15,10 +15,12 @@ describe 'Issue Boards', js: true do
   let!(:list)        { create(:list, board: board, label: development, position: 0) }
   let(:card) { find('.board:nth-child(2)').first('.card') }
 
-  before do
-    Timecop.freeze
+  around do |example|
+    Timecop.freeze { example.run }
+  end
 
-    project.team << [user, :master]
+  before do
+    project.add_master(user)
 
     sign_in(user)
 
@@ -26,10 +28,6 @@ describe 'Issue Boards', js: true do
     wait_for_requests
   end
 
-  after do
-    Timecop.return
-  end
-
   it 'shows sidebar when clicking issue' do
     click_card(card)
 
diff --git a/spec/features/groups/milestone_spec.rb b/spec/features/groups/milestone_spec.rb
index 574bbe0e0e1..32b3e13c624 100644
--- a/spec/features/groups/milestone_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/groups/milestone_spec.rb
@@ -5,14 +5,12 @@ feature 'Group milestones', :js do
   let!(:project) { create(:project_empty_repo, group: group) }
   let(:user) { create(:group_member, :master, user: create(:user), group: group ).user }
 
-  before do
-    Timecop.freeze
-
-    sign_in(user)
+  around do |example|
+    Timecop.freeze { example.run }
   end
 
-  after do
-    Timecop.return
+  before do
+    sign_in(user)
   end
 
   context 'create a milestone' do
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/storage/circuit_breaker_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/storage/circuit_breaker_spec.rb
index 7256402b010..9d1763b96ad 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/git/storage/circuit_breaker_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/git/storage/circuit_breaker_spec.rb
@@ -175,11 +175,7 @@ describe Gitlab::Git::Storage::CircuitBreaker, clean_gitlab_redis_shared_state:
 
   describe '#track_storage_inaccessible' do
     around do |example|
-      Timecop.freeze
-
-      example.run
-
-      Timecop.return
+      Timecop.freeze { example.run }
     end
 
     it 'records the failure time in redis' do
diff --git a/spec/lib/gitlab/metrics/requests_rack_middleware_spec.rb b/spec/lib/gitlab/metrics/requests_rack_middleware_spec.rb
index 461b1e4182a..ebe66948a91 100644
--- a/spec/lib/gitlab/metrics/requests_rack_middleware_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/gitlab/metrics/requests_rack_middleware_spec.rb
@@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ describe Gitlab::Metrics::RequestsRackMiddleware do
   let(:app) { double('app') }
   subject { described_class.new(app) }
 
-  around do |example|
-    Timecop.freeze { example.run }
-  end
-
   describe '#call' do
     let(:status) { 100 }
     let(:env) { { 'REQUEST_METHOD' => 'GET' } }
@@ -28,16 +24,14 @@ describe Gitlab::Metrics::RequestsRackMiddleware do
         subject.call(env)
       end
 
+      RSpec::Matchers.define :a_positive_execution_time do
+        match { |actual| actual > 0 }
+      end
+
       it 'measures execution time' do
-        execution_time = 10
-        allow(app).to receive(:call) do |*args|
-          Timecop.freeze(execution_time.seconds)
-          [200, nil, nil]
-        end
+        expect(described_class).to receive_message_chain(:http_request_duration_seconds, :observe).with({ status: 200, method: 'get' }, a_positive_execution_time)
 
-        expect(described_class).to receive_message_chain(:http_request_duration_seconds, :observe).with({ status: 200, method: 'get' }, execution_time)
-
-        subject.call(env)
+        Timecop.scale(3600) { subject.call(env) }
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/models/issue_spec.rb b/spec/models/issue_spec.rb
index 6d825ba68d1..9203f6562f2 100644
--- a/spec/models/issue_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/issue_spec.rb
@@ -57,18 +57,14 @@ describe Issue do
   end
 
   describe '#closed_at' do
-    after do
-      Timecop.return
-    end
-
-    let!(:now) { Timecop.freeze(Time.now) }
-
     it 'sets closed_at to Time.now when issue is closed' do
       issue = create(:issue, state: 'opened')
 
+      expect(issue.closed_at).to be_nil
+
       issue.close
 
-      expect(issue.closed_at).to eq(now)
+      expect(issue.closed_at).to be_present
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/internal_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/internal_spec.rb
index 8a2de23716f..e9c30dba8d4 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/internal_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/internal_spec.rb
@@ -181,13 +181,12 @@ describe API::Internal do
 
   describe "POST /internal/allowed", :clean_gitlab_redis_shared_state do
     context "access granted" do
-      before do
-        project.team << [user, :developer]
-        Timecop.freeze
+      around do |example|
+        Timecop.freeze { example.run }
       end
 
-      after do
-        Timecop.return
+      before do
+        project.team << [user, :developer]
       end
 
       context 'with env passed as a JSON' do
diff --git a/spec/serializers/analytics_build_entity_spec.rb b/spec/serializers/analytics_build_entity_spec.rb
index 9f26d5cd09a..1ff4908972a 100644
--- a/spec/serializers/analytics_build_entity_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/serializers/analytics_build_entity_spec.rb
@@ -13,12 +13,8 @@ describe AnalyticsBuildEntity do
 
     subject { entity.as_json }
 
-    before do
-      Timecop.freeze
-    end
-
-    after do
-      Timecop.return
+    around do |example|
+      Timecop.freeze { example.run }
     end
 
     it 'contains the URL' do
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 0ba6ed56314..3bece3ab720 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ RSpec.configure do |config|
   config.raise_errors_for_deprecations!
 
   config.before(:suite) do
+    Timecop.safe_mode = true
     TestEnv.init
   end