diff --git a/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/LocalDynamoDbFactory.java b/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/LocalDynamoDbFactory.java
index 54e2263cc..f49363b57 100644
--- a/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/LocalDynamoDbFactory.java
+++ b/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/configuration/LocalDynamoDbFactory.java
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ package org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.configuration;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonTypeName;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.storage.DynamoDbExtension;
 import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.storage.DynamoDbExtensionSchema;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.AwsCredentialsProvider;
@@ -19,6 +21,8 @@ public class LocalDynamoDbFactory implements DynamoDbClientFactory {
 
   private static final DynamoDbExtension EXTENSION = new DynamoDbExtension(DynamoDbExtensionSchema.Tables.values());
 
+  private boolean initExtension = true;
+
   /**
    * If true, tables will be created the first time a DynamoDB client is built.
    * <p>
@@ -27,34 +31,56 @@ public class LocalDynamoDbFactory implements DynamoDbClientFactory {
   @JsonProperty
   boolean initTables = true;
 
-  public LocalDynamoDbFactory() {
-    try {
-      EXTENSION.beforeAll(null);
-    } catch (Exception e) {
-      throw new RuntimeException(e);
-    }
-
-    Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(new Thread(() -> {
-      try {
-        EXTENSION.close();
-      } catch (Throwable e) {
-        throw new RuntimeException(e);
-      }
-    }));
-  }
+  /**
+   * If specified, will be provided to {@link DynamoDbExtension} to use instead of its embedded container
+   */
+  @Nullable
+  @JsonProperty
+  DynamoDbLocalOverrides overrides;
 
   @Override
   public DynamoDbClient buildSyncClient(final AwsCredentialsProvider awsCredentialsProvider, final MetricPublisher metricPublisher) {
+    initExtensionIfNecessary();
     initTablesIfNecessary();
+
     return EXTENSION.getDynamoDbClient();
   }
 
   @Override
   public DynamoDbAsyncClient buildAsyncClient(final AwsCredentialsProvider awsCredentialsProvider, final MetricPublisher metricPublisher) {
+    initExtensionIfNecessary();
     initTablesIfNecessary();
+
     return EXTENSION.getDynamoDbAsyncClient();
   }
 
+  private void initExtensionIfNecessary() {
+    if (initExtension) {
+      try {
+        Optional.ofNullable(overrides)
+            .ifPresent(o -> {
+              Optional.ofNullable(o.endpoint).ifPresent(EXTENSION::setEndpointOverride);
+              Optional.ofNullable(o.region).ifPresent(EXTENSION::setRegion);
+              Optional.ofNullable(o.awsCredentialsProvider).ifPresent(p -> EXTENSION.setAwsCredentialsProvider(p.build()));
+            });
+
+        EXTENSION.beforeAll(null);
+
+        Runtime.getRuntime().addShutdownHook(new Thread(() -> {
+          try {
+            EXTENSION.close();
+          } catch (Throwable e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+          }
+        }));
+
+        initExtension = false;
+      } catch (Exception e) {
+        throw new RuntimeException(e);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   private void initTablesIfNecessary() {
     try {
       if (initTables) {
@@ -65,4 +91,6 @@ public class LocalDynamoDbFactory implements DynamoDbClientFactory {
       throw new RuntimeException(e);
     }
   }
+
+  private record DynamoDbLocalOverrides(@Nullable String endpoint, @Nullable AwsCredentialsProviderFactory awsCredentialsProvider, @Nullable String region) {}
 }
diff --git a/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/DynamoDbExtension.java b/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/DynamoDbExtension.java
index de9004707..8cc452d7a 100644
--- a/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/DynamoDbExtension.java
+++ b/service/src/test/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/storage/DynamoDbExtension.java
@@ -9,15 +9,17 @@ import java.net.URI;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.List;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.AfterAllCallback;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.AfterEachCallback;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.BeforeAllCallback;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.BeforeEachCallback;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtensionContext;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.testcontainers.containers.GenericContainer;
 import org.testcontainers.utility.DockerImageName;
 import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.util.TestcontainersImages;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.AwsBasicCredentials;
+import software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.AwsCredentialsProvider;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.auth.credentials.StaticCredentialsProvider;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.DynamoDbAsyncClient;
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@ import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.LocalSecondaryIndex;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.ProvisionedThroughput;
 import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.ResourceNotFoundException;
 
-public class DynamoDbExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback, AfterEachCallback, AfterAllCallback, ExtensionContext.Store.CloseableResource {
+public class DynamoDbExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback, AfterEachCallback, ExtensionContext.Store.CloseableResource {
 
   public interface TableSchema {
     String tableName();
@@ -51,6 +53,8 @@ public class DynamoDbExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback,
     List<LocalSecondaryIndex> localSecondaryIndexes
   ) implements TableSchema { }
 
+  private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DynamoDbExtension.class);
+
   static final ProvisionedThroughput DEFAULT_PROVISIONED_THROUGHPUT = ProvisionedThroughput.builder()
       .readCapacityUnits(20L)
       .writeCapacityUnits(20L)
@@ -62,14 +66,31 @@ public class DynamoDbExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback,
       .withExposedPorts(CONTAINER_PORT)
       .withCommand("-jar DynamoDBLocal.jar -inMemory -sharedDb -disableTelemetry");
 
+  // These are static to simplify configuration in WhisperServerServiceTest
+  private static String endpointOverride;
+  private static Region region = Region.of("local");
+  private static AwsCredentialsProvider awsCredentialsProvider = StaticCredentialsProvider.create(AwsBasicCredentials.create("test", "test"));
+  private static DynamoDbClient dynamoDb;
+  private static DynamoDbAsyncClient dynamoDbAsync;
+
   private final List<TableSchema> schemas;
-  private DynamoDbClient dynamoDb;
-  private DynamoDbAsyncClient dynamoDbAsync;
 
   public DynamoDbExtension(TableSchema... schemas) {
     this.schemas = List.of(schemas);
   }
 
+  public void setEndpointOverride(String endpointOverride) {
+    DynamoDbExtension.endpointOverride = endpointOverride;
+  }
+
+  public void setRegion(String region) {
+    DynamoDbExtension.region = Region.of(region);
+  }
+
+  public void setAwsCredentialsProvider(AwsCredentialsProvider awsCredentialsProvider) {
+    DynamoDbExtension.awsCredentialsProvider = awsCredentialsProvider;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Starts the DynamoDB server
    */
@@ -111,19 +132,15 @@ public class DynamoDbExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback,
         });
   }
 
-  @Override
-  public void afterAll(ExtensionContext context) throws Exception {
-    dynamoDb.close();
-    dynamoDbAsync.close();
-  }
-
   @Override
   public void close() throws Throwable {
     stopServer();
   }
 
   private void startServer() {
-    dynamoDbContainer.start();
+    if (endpointOverride == null) {
+      dynamoDbContainer.start();
+    }
     initializeClient();
   }
 
@@ -153,6 +170,7 @@ public class DynamoDbExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback,
   }
 
   private void createTables() {
+    logger.debug("Creating tables");
     schemas.forEach(this::createTable);
   }
 
@@ -182,17 +200,18 @@ public class DynamoDbExtension implements BeforeAllCallback, BeforeEachCallback,
   }
 
   private void initializeClient() {
-    final URI endpoint = URI.create(
-        String.format("http://%s:%d", dynamoDbContainer.getHost(), dynamoDbContainer.getMappedPort(CONTAINER_PORT)));
+    final URI endpoint = endpointOverride == null ?
+        URI.create(String.format("http://%s:%d", dynamoDbContainer.getHost(), dynamoDbContainer.getMappedPort(CONTAINER_PORT)))
+        : URI.create(endpointOverride);
 
     dynamoDb = DynamoDbClient.builder()
-        .region(Region.of("local"))
-        .credentialsProvider(StaticCredentialsProvider.create(AwsBasicCredentials.create("test", "test")))
+        .region(region)
+        .credentialsProvider(awsCredentialsProvider)
         .endpointOverride(endpoint)
         .build();
     dynamoDbAsync = DynamoDbAsyncClient.builder()
-        .region(Region.of("local"))
-        .credentialsProvider(StaticCredentialsProvider.create(AwsBasicCredentials.create("test", "test")))
+        .region(region)
+        .credentialsProvider(awsCredentialsProvider)
         .endpointOverride(endpoint)
         .build();
   }