diff --git a/sphinx/testing/util.py b/sphinx/testing/util.py
index 54c3a6f66e..9cf77d3043 100644
--- a/sphinx/testing/util.py
+++ b/sphinx/testing/util.py
@@ -178,6 +178,16 @@ class SphinxTestApp(sphinx.application.Sphinx):
             self.cleanup()
             raise
 
+    def _init_builder(self) -> None:
+        # override the default theme to 'basic' rather than 'alabaster'
+        # for test independence
+
+        if 'html_theme' in self.config._overrides:
+            pass  # respect overrides
+        elif 'html_theme' in self.config and self.config.html_theme == 'alabaster':
+            self.config.html_theme = self.config._overrides.get('html_theme', 'basic')
+        super()._init_builder()
+
     @property
     def status(self) -> StringIO:
         """The in-memory text I/O for the application status messages."""
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html.py
index 31fc1981dc..2c4601849c 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html.py
@@ -367,15 +367,12 @@ def test_html_style(app):
 @pytest.mark.sphinx(
     'html',
     testroot='basic',
-    # alabaster changed default sidebars in 1.0.0
     confoverrides={
         'html_sidebars': {
             '**': [
-                'about.html',
-                'navigation.html',
-                'relations.html',
-                'searchbox.html',
-                'donate.html',
+                'localtoc.html',
+                'searchfield.html',
+                'sourcelink.html',
             ]
         }
     },
@@ -386,45 +383,58 @@ def test_html_sidebar(app):
     # default for alabaster
     app.build(force_all=True)
     result = (app.outdir / 'index.html').read_text(encoding='utf8')
+    # layout.html
     assert '<div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="Main">' in result
-    assert '<h1 class="logo"><a href="#">Project name not set</a></h1>' in result
+    assert '<h1>The basic Sphinx documentation for testing' in result
     assert '<h3>Navigation</h3>' in result
-    assert '<h3>Related Topics</h3>' in result
-    assert '<h3 id="searchlabel">Quick search</h3>' in result
+    # localtoc.html
+    assert '<h3><a href="#">Table of Contents</a></h3>' in result
+    # searchfield.html
+    assert '<div class="searchformwrapper">' in result
+    # sourcelink.html
+    assert '<h3>This Page</h3>' in result
 
     app.builder.add_sidebars('index', ctx)
     assert ctx['sidebars'] == [
-        'about.html',
-        'navigation.html',
-        'relations.html',
-        'searchbox.html',
-        'donate.html',
+        'localtoc.html',
+        'searchfield.html',
+        'sourcelink.html',
     ]
 
-    # only relations.html
-    app.config.html_sidebars = {'**': ['relations.html']}
+    # only sourcelink.html
+    app.config.html_sidebars = {'**': ['sourcelink.html']}
     app.build(force_all=True)
     result = (app.outdir / 'index.html').read_text(encoding='utf8')
+    # layout.html
     assert '<div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="Main">' in result
-    assert '<h1 class="logo"><a href="#">Python</a></h1>' not in result
-    assert '<h3>Navigation</h3>' not in result
-    assert '<h3>Related Topics</h3>' in result
-    assert '<h3 id="searchlabel">Quick search</h3>' not in result
+    assert '<h1>The basic Sphinx documentation for testing' in result
+    assert '<h3>Navigation</h3>' in result
+    # localtoc.html
+    assert '<h3><a href="#">Table of Contents</a></h3>' not in result
+    # searchfield.html
+    assert '<div class="searchformwrapper">' not in result
+    # sourcelink.html
+    assert '<h3>This Page</h3>' in result
 
     app.builder.add_sidebars('index', ctx)
-    assert ctx['sidebars'] == ['relations.html']
+    assert ctx['sidebars'] == ['sourcelink.html']
 
     # no sidebars
     app.config.html_sidebars = {'**': []}
     app.build(force_all=True)
     result = (app.outdir / 'index.html').read_text(encoding='utf8')
+    # layout.html
     assert (
         '<div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="Main">'
     ) not in result
-    assert '<h1 class="logo"><a href="#">Python</a></h1>' not in result
-    assert '<h3>Navigation</h3>' not in result
-    assert '<h3>Related Topics</h3>' not in result
-    assert '<h3 id="searchlabel">Quick search</h3>' not in result
+    assert '<h1>The basic Sphinx documentation for testing' in result
+    assert '<h3>Navigation</h3>' in result
+    # localtoc.html
+    assert '<h3><a href="#">Table of Contents</a></h3>' not in result
+    # searchfield.html
+    assert '<div class="searchformwrapper">' not in result
+    # sourcelink.html
+    assert '<h3>This Page</h3>' not in result
 
     app.builder.add_sidebars('index', ctx)
     assert ctx['sidebars'] == []
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_assets.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_assets.py
index 8172bdf470..f7d21fe61b 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_assets.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_assets.py
@@ -81,7 +81,6 @@ def test_assets_order(app, monkeypatch):
     expected = [
         '_static/early.css',
         '_static/pygments.css',
-        '_static/alabaster.css',
         'https://example.com/custom.css',
         '_static/normal.css',
         '_static/late.css',
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_highlight.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_highlight.py
index 2e1f224d07..07d5e3e988 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_highlight.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_highlight.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from unittest.mock import ANY, call, patch
 import pytest
 
 
-@pytest.mark.sphinx('html', testroot='basic')
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('html', testroot='basic', confoverrides={'html_theme': 'alabaster'})
 def test_html_pygments_style_default(app):
     style = app.builder.highlighter.formatter_args.get('style')
     assert style.__name__ == 'Alabaster'
diff --git a/tests/test_domains/test_domain_std.py b/tests/test_domains/test_domain_std.py
index fd69fb961f..a571885a20 100644
--- a/tests/test_domains/test_domain_std.py
+++ b/tests/test_domains/test_domain_std.py
@@ -497,9 +497,9 @@ def test_productionlist(app):
 
     etree = etree_parse(app.outdir / 'index.html')
     nodes = list(etree.iter('ul'))
-    assert len(nodes) >= 2
+    assert len(nodes) >= 3
 
-    ul = nodes[1]
+    ul = nodes[2]
     cases = []
     for li in list(ul):
         assert len(list(li)) == 1
diff --git a/tests/test_intl/test_intl.py b/tests/test_intl/test_intl.py
index e6ac8db27d..29e3747bfa 100644
--- a/tests/test_intl/test_intl.py
+++ b/tests/test_intl/test_intl.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ sphinx_intl = pytest.mark.sphinx(
         'language': _CATALOG_LOCALE,
         'locale_dirs': ['.'],
         'gettext_compact': False,
+        'html_sidebars': {'**': ['globaltoc.html']},  # for test_html_meta
     },
 )