diff --git a/src/tests/frontend/helper.js b/src/tests/frontend/helper.js
index be14e2b1..9e63cc8f 100644
--- a/src/tests/frontend/helper.js
+++ b/src/tests/frontend/helper.js
@@ -6,17 +6,16 @@ const helper = {};
   let $iframe;
   const jsLibraries = {};
 
-  helper.init = (cb) => {
-    $.get('../../static/js/vendors/jquery.js').done((code) => {
-      // make sure we don't override existing jquery
-      jsLibraries.jquery = `if(typeof $ === 'undefined') {\n${code}\n}`;
-
-      $.get('lib/sendkeys.js').done((code) => {
-        jsLibraries.sendkeys = code;
-
-        cb();
-      });
-    });
+  helper.init = async () => {
+    [
+      jsLibraries.jquery,
+      jsLibraries.sendkeys,
+    ] = await Promise.all([
+      $.get('../../static/js/vendors/jquery.js'),
+      $.get('lib/sendkeys.js'),
+    ]);
+    // make sure we don't override existing jquery
+    jsLibraries.jquery = `if (typeof $ === 'undefined') {\n${jsLibraries.jquery}\n}`;
   };
 
   helper.randomString = (len) => {
diff --git a/src/tests/frontend/runner.js b/src/tests/frontend/runner.js
index ebb956a4..c6d2d907 100644
--- a/src/tests/frontend/runner.js
+++ b/src/tests/frontend/runner.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 'use strict';
 
-$(() => {
+// $(handler), $().ready(handler), $.wait($.ready).then(handler), etc. don't work if handler is an
+// async function for some bizarre reason, so the async function is wrapped in a non-async function.
+$(() => (async () => {
   const stringifyException = (exception) => {
     let err = exception.stack || exception.toString();
 
@@ -154,15 +156,11 @@ $(() => {
     describe(`${desc}.js`, function () { require(spec); });
   }
 
-  // initialize the test helper
-  helper.init(() => {
-    // configure and start the test framework
-    const grep = getURLParameter('grep');
-    if (grep != null) {
-      mocha.grep(grep);
-    }
-
-    const runner = mocha.run();
-    customRunner(runner);
-  });
-});
+  await helper.init();
+  const grep = getURLParameter('grep');
+  if (grep != null) {
+    mocha.grep(grep);
+  }
+  const runner = mocha.run();
+  customRunner(runner);
+})());