diff --git a/SAS/TMSS/test/test_utils.py b/SAS/TMSS/test/test_utils.py
index 2f1764483ab6b9d6280d40e10e93fbf1b2f30839..844eff667e9b40f39bc4312aa2a92015466b65df 100644
--- a/SAS/TMSS/test/test_utils.py
+++ b/SAS/TMSS/test/test_utils.py
@@ -291,7 +291,8 @@ class TMSSTestEnvironment:
         self._start_ra_test_environment = start_ra_test_environment
         self.ra_test_environment = None
 
-        self._start_postgres_listener = start_postgres_listener
+        # the postgres_listener is needed by depending services, so start it when any depending service is started, even if start_postgres_listener==False
+        self._start_postgres_listener = start_postgres_listener or start_subtask_scheduler or start_ingest_tmss_adapter or start_dynamic_scheduler or start_pipeline_control
         self.postgres_listener = None
 
         self._start_subtask_scheduler = start_subtask_scheduler