diff --git a/src/com/biffweb.clj b/src/com/biffweb.clj
index 89801cf..de1f033 100644
--- a/src/com/biffweb.clj
+++ b/src/com/biffweb.clj
@@ -736,6 +736,24 @@
      [:xtdb.api/fn :biff/ensure-unique {:user/name \"example\"}]])"
   bxt/tx-fns)
 
+(defn test-xtdb-node
+  "Returns an in-memory node that's initialized with the given docs and with biff/tx-fns.
+
+   Each element of docs will be given a random UUID for :xt/id, unless you
+   supply one. The docs are inserted with :xtdb.api/put operations, i.e. they're
+   inserted verbatim without schema checking or any other biff/submit-tx
+   features.
+
+   Example:
+
+     (deftest my-test
+       (with-open [node (test-xtdb-node [{:user/email \"hello@example.com\"}
+                                         {:user/email \"there@example.com\"}])]
+         (let [db (xt/db node)]
+           ...)))"
+  [docs]
+  (bxt/test-node docs))
+
 ;;;; Rum
 
 (defn render
diff --git a/src/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb.clj b/src/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb.clj
index c0164b7..393abf8 100644
--- a/src/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb.clj
+++ b/src/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb.clj
@@ -434,3 +434,17 @@
                                  query
                                  (map :v kvs))))
           false)))})
+
+(defn test-node [docs]
+  (let [node (xt/start-node {})]
+    (xt/await-tx
+     node
+     (xt/submit-tx node
+       (vec
+        (concat
+         (for [d docs]
+           [::xt/put (merge {:xt/id (random-uuid)}
+                            d)])
+         (for [[k f] tx-fns]
+           [::xt/put {:xt/id k :xt/fn f}])))))
+    node))
diff --git a/test/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb_test.clj b/test/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb_test.clj
index b621272..d6ed896 100644
--- a/test/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb_test.clj
+++ b/test/com/biffweb/impl/xtdb_test.clj
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 (ns com.biffweb.impl.xtdb-test
   (:require [clojure.test :refer [deftest is]]
             [xtdb.api :as xt]
-            [com.biffweb :as biff]
+            [com.biffweb :as biff :refer [test-xtdb-node]]
             [malli.core :as malc]
             [malli.registry :as malr]))
 
@@ -28,23 +28,8 @@
 
 (def malli-opts {:registry (malr/composite-registry malc/default-registry schema)})
 
-(defn test-node [docs]
-  (let [node (xt/start-node {})]
-    (when (not-empty docs)
-      (xt/await-tx
-       node
-       (xt/submit-tx node
-         (vec
-          (concat
-           (for [d docs]
-             [::xt/put (merge {:xt/id (random-uuid)}
-                              d)])
-           (for [[k f] biff/tx-fns]
-             [::xt/put {:xt/id k :xt/fn f}]))))))
-    node))
-
 (deftest ensure-unique
-  (with-open [node (test-node [{:foo "bar"}])]
+  (with-open [node (test-xtdb-node [{:foo "bar"}])]
     (let [db (xt/db node)]
       (is (nil? (xt/with-tx
                   db
@@ -58,7 +43,7 @@
                     [::xt/fn :biff/ensure-unique {:foo "bar"}]]))))))
 
 (deftest tx-upsert
-  (with-open [node (test-node [{:xt/id :id/foo
+  (with-open [node (test-xtdb-node [{:xt/id :id/foo
                                 :foo "bar"}])]
     (is (= (biff/tx-xform-upsert
             {:biff/db (xt/db node)}
@@ -116,10 +101,10 @@
                  :user/email "bob@example.com"}])
 
 (deftest tx-default
-  (with-open [node (test-node (into test-docs
-                                    [{:xt/id :user/carol
-                                      :user/email "carol@example.com"
-                                      :user/foo "x"}]))]
+  (with-open [node (test-xtdb-node (into test-docs
+                                         [{:xt/id :user/carol
+                                           :user/email "carol@example.com"
+                                           :user/foo "x"}]))]
     (is (= (biff/biff-tx->xt
             (get-context node)
             [{:db/doc-type :user
@@ -144,7 +129,7 @@
               {:user/email "carol@example.com", :user/foo "x", :xt/id :user/carol}])))))
 
 (deftest tx-all
-  (with-open [node (test-node test-docs)]
+  (with-open [node (test-xtdb-node test-docs)]
     (is (= (biff/biff-tx->xt
             (get-context node)
             [{:db/doc-type :user
@@ -168,22 +153,22 @@
               {:user/email "bob@example.com", :xt/id :user/bob, :user/bar "baz"}])))))
 
 (deftest lookup
-  (with-open [node (test-node [{:xt/id :user/alice
-                                :user/email "alice@example.com"
-                                :user/foo "foo"}
-                               {:xt/id :user/bob
-                                :user/email "bob@example.com"
-                                :user/foo "foo"}
-                               {:xt/id :user/carol
-                                :user/email "bob@example.com"}
-                               {:xt/id :msg/a
-                                :msg/user :user/alice
-                                :msg/text "hello"
-                                :msg/sent-at #inst "1970"}
-                               {:xt/id :msg/b
-                                :msg/user :user/alice
-                                :msg/text "there"
-                                :msg/sent-at #inst "1971"}])]
+  (with-open [node (test-xtdb-node [{:xt/id :user/alice
+                                     :user/email "alice@example.com"
+                                     :user/foo "foo"}
+                                    {:xt/id :user/bob
+                                     :user/email "bob@example.com"
+                                     :user/foo "foo"}
+                                    {:xt/id :user/carol
+                                     :user/email "bob@example.com"}
+                                    {:xt/id :msg/a
+                                     :msg/user :user/alice
+                                     :msg/text "hello"
+                                     :msg/sent-at #inst "1970"}
+                                    {:xt/id :msg/b
+                                     :msg/user :user/alice
+                                     :msg/text "there"
+                                     :msg/sent-at #inst "1971"}])]
     (let [db (xt/db node)]
       (is (= :user/alice (biff/lookup-id db :user/email "alice@example.com")))
       (is (= '(:user/alice :user/bob) (sort (biff/lookup-id-all db :user/foo "foo"))))