diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py
index b8dbd378e7..f1b230bb05 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/tests/test_contentstore.py
@@ -1604,7 +1604,7 @@ class ContentStoreTest(ModuleStoreTestCase):
         data = parse_json(resp)
         self.assertRegexpMatches(
             data['locator'],
-            r"^MITx.999.Robot_Super_Course/branch/draft/block/chapter([0-9]|[a-f]){3}$"
+            r"^MITx.999.Robot_Super_Course/branch/draft/block/chapter([0-9]|[a-f]){3,}$"
         )
 
     def test_capa_module(self):
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py
index 11e61e1106..f44b882267 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/contentstore/mongo.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from pymongo import Connection
+import pymongo
 import gridfs
 from gridfs.errors import NoFile
 
@@ -24,8 +24,14 @@ class MongoContentStore(ContentStore):
         :param collection: ignores but provided for consistency w/ other doc_store_config patterns
         """
         logging.debug('Using MongoDB for static content serving at host={0} db={1}'.format(host, db))
-
-        _db = Connection(host=host, port=port, **kwargs)[db]
+        _db = pymongo.database.Database(
+            pymongo.MongoClient(
+                host=host,
+                port=port,
+                **kwargs
+            ),
+            db
+        )
 
         if user is not None and password is not None:
             _db.authenticate(user, password)
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py
index 0f9e0a4d8f..276f7ccdbc 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/mongo/base.py
@@ -274,25 +274,29 @@ class MongoModuleStore(ModuleStoreWriteBase):
             """
             Create & open the connection, authenticate, and provide pointers to the collection
             """
-            self.collection = pymongo.connection.Connection(
-                host=host,
-                port=port,
-                tz_aware=tz_aware,
-                **kwargs
-            )[db][collection]
+            self.database = pymongo.database.Database(
+                pymongo.MongoClient(
+                    host=host,
+                    port=port,
+                    tz_aware=tz_aware,
+                    **kwargs
+                ),
+                db
+            )
+            self.collection = self.database[collection]
 
             if user is not None and password is not None:
-                self.collection.database.authenticate(user, password)
+                self.database.authenticate(user, password)
 
         do_connection(**doc_store_config)
 
         # Force mongo to report errors, at the expense of performance
-        self.collection.safe = True
+        self.collection.write_concern = {'w': 1}
 
         # Force mongo to maintain an index over _id.* that is in the same order
         # that is used when querying by a location
         self.collection.ensure_index(
-            zip(('_id.' + field for field in Location._fields), repeat(1))
+            zip(('_id.' + field for field in Location._fields), repeat(1)),
         )
 
         if default_class is not None:
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/django_utils.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/django_utils.py
index 16f756b233..862c9e600e 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/django_utils.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/django_utils.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def mongo_store_config(data_dir):
             'DOC_STORE_CONFIG': {
                 'host': 'localhost',
                 'db': 'test_xmodule',
-                'collection': 'modulestore_%s' % uuid4().hex,
+                'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid4().hex[:5]),
             },
             'OPTIONS': {
                 'default_class': 'xmodule.raw_module.RawDescriptor',
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def draft_mongo_store_config(data_dir):
             'DOC_STORE_CONFIG': {
                 'host': 'localhost',
                 'db': 'test_xmodule',
-                'collection': 'modulestore_%s' % uuid4().hex,
+                'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid4().hex[:5]),
             },
             'OPTIONS': modulestore_options
         }
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ def studio_store_config(data_dir):
     store_config = {
         'host': 'localhost',
         'db': 'test_xmodule',
-        'collection': 'modulestore_%s' % uuid4().hex,
+        'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid4().hex[:5]),
     }
     options = {
         'default_class': 'xmodule.raw_module.RawDescriptor',
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_location_mapper.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_location_mapper.py
index 2fbff10423..087a1951a9 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_location_mapper.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_location_mapper.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class TestLocationMapper(unittest.TestCase):
         modulestore_options = {
             'host': 'localhost',
             'db': 'test_xmodule',
-            'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex),
+            'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex[:5]),
         }
 
         # pylint: disable=W0142
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mixed_modulestore.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mixed_modulestore.py
index 821a41f137..04ff4bb15c 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mixed_modulestore.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mixed_modulestore.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ from xmodule.modulestore.mixed import MixedModuleStore
 
 HOST = 'localhost'
 PORT = 27017
-DB = 'test_mongo_%s' % uuid4().hex
+DB = 'test_mongo_%s' % uuid4().hex[:5]
 COLLECTION = 'modulestore'
 FS_ROOT = DATA_DIR
 DEFAULT_CLASS = 'xmodule.raw_module.RawDescriptor'
@@ -69,7 +69,11 @@ class TestMixedModuleStore(object):
         """
         Set up the database for testing
         """
-        cls.connection = pymongo.connection.Connection(HOST, PORT)
+        cls.connection = pymongo.MongoClient(
+            host=HOST,
+            port=PORT,
+            tz_aware=True,
+        )
         cls.connection.drop_database(DB)
         cls.fake_location = Location(['i4x', 'foo', 'bar', 'vertical', 'baz'])
         cls.import_org, cls.import_course, cls.import_run = IMPORT_COURSEID.split('/')
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py
index 1050aba01f..44e5889f0c 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_mongo.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ from xmodule.modulestore.xml_importer import import_from_xml, perform_xlint
 from xmodule.contentstore.mongo import MongoContentStore
 
 from xmodule.modulestore.tests.test_modulestore import check_path_to_location
-from IPython.testing.nose_assert_methods import assert_in, assert_not_in
+from IPython.testing.nose_assert_methods import assert_in
 from xmodule.exceptions import NotFoundError
 from xmodule.modulestore.exceptions import InsufficientSpecificationError
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 HOST = 'localhost'
 PORT = 27017
-DB = 'test_mongo_%s' % uuid4().hex
+DB = 'test_mongo_%s' % uuid4().hex[:5]
 COLLECTION = 'modulestore'
 FS_ROOT = DATA_DIR  # TODO (vshnayder): will need a real fs_root for testing load_item
 DEFAULT_CLASS = 'xmodule.raw_module.RawDescriptor'
@@ -39,7 +39,11 @@ class TestMongoModuleStore(object):
     '''Tests!'''
     @classmethod
     def setupClass(cls):
-        cls.connection = pymongo.connection.Connection(HOST, PORT)
+        cls.connection = pymongo.MongoClient(
+            host=HOST,
+            port=PORT,
+            tz_aware=True,
+        )
         cls.connection.drop_database(DB)
 
         # NOTE: Creating a single db for all the tests to save time.  This
@@ -50,8 +54,8 @@ class TestMongoModuleStore(object):
 
     @classmethod
     def teardownClass(cls):
-        cls.connection = pymongo.connection.Connection(HOST, PORT)
-        cls.connection.drop_database(DB)
+        if cls.connection:
+            cls.connection.drop_database(DB)
 
     @staticmethod
     def initdb():
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_orphan.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_orphan.py
index 073531094f..145aa77c23 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_orphan.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_orphan.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class TestOrphan(unittest.TestCase):
     split_course_id = 'test_org.test_course.runid'
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.db_config['collection'] = 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex)
+        self.db_config['collection'] = 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex[:5])
 
         self.userid = random.getrandbits(32)
         super(TestOrphan, self).setUp()
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_publish.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_publish.py
index f36b98e24a..867351370c 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_publish.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_publish.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ class TestPublish(unittest.TestCase):
     }
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.db_config['collection'] = 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex)
+        self.db_config['collection'] = 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex[:5])
 
         self.old_mongo = MongoModuleStore(self.db_config, **self.modulestore_options)
         self.draft_mongo = DraftMongoModuleStore(self.db_config, **self.modulestore_options)
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_migrator.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_migrator.py
index 74975f2896..7ddab1e376 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_migrator.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_migrator.py
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class TestMigration(unittest.TestCase):
     db_config = {
         'host': 'localhost',
         'db': 'test_xmodule',
-        'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex),
+        'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex[:5]),
     }
 
     modulestore_options = {
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_modulestore.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_modulestore.py
index 2e89b761d2..7cb98b26e7 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_modulestore.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/tests/test_split_modulestore.py
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class SplitModuleTest(unittest.TestCase):
     DOC_STORE_CONFIG = {
         'host': 'localhost',
         'db': 'test_xmodule',
-        'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex),
+        'collection': 'modulestore{0}'.format(uuid.uuid4().hex[:5]),
     }
     modulestore_options = {
         'default_class': 'xmodule.raw_module.RawDescriptor',