diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 5115a902d..9efa61b22 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ gem 'terser', '~> 1.1'
 group :development, :test do
   # Call 'byebug' anywhere in the code to stop execution and get a debugger console
   gem 'byebug', '~> 11.1.3', platform: :mri
+  gem 'database_cleaner'
   gem 'fcrepo_wrapper', '~> 0.9.0'
   gem 'rspec-rails', '~> 5.1.2'
   # Rubocop for style and error checking (linter)
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index ad38f8373..93d15eaa8 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -274,6 +274,12 @@ GEM
     crack (0.4.5)
       rexml
     crass (1.0.6)
+    database_cleaner (2.0.2)
+      database_cleaner-active_record (>= 2, < 3)
+    database_cleaner-active_record (2.1.0)
+      activerecord (>= 5.a)
+      database_cleaner-core (~> 2.0.0)
+    database_cleaner-core (2.0.1)
     date (3.3.3)
     declarative (0.0.20)
     deprecation (1.1.0)
@@ -1071,6 +1077,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   capybara (~> 3.36)
   clamav-client
   coffee-rails (~> 5.0.0)
+  database_cleaner
   devise (~> 4.8.0)
   devise-guests (~> 0.8.1)
   edtf-humanize (= 2.0.1)
diff --git a/spec/rails_helper.rb b/spec/rails_helper.rb
index 7454925e8..af41c1e66 100755
--- a/spec/rails_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/rails_helper.rb
@@ -31,9 +31,27 @@
 
 # Checks for pending migration and applies them before tests are run.
 # If you are not using ActiveRecord, you can remove this line.
+
 ActiveRecord::Migration.maintain_test_schema!
 
 RSpec.configure do |config|
+  DatabaseCleaner.url_allowlist = [ENV['DATABASE_URL']]
+
+  config.before(:suite) do
+    DatabaseCleaner.clean_with :truncation
+    DatabaseCleaner.strategy = :transaction
+  end
+
+  config.before do
+    DatabaseCleaner.start
+  end
+
+  config.after do
+    DatabaseCleaner.clean
+  rescue
+    puts 'database clean failed'
+  end
+
   # Remove this line if you're not using ActiveRecord or ActiveRecord fixtures
   config.fixture_path = "#{::Rails.root}/spec/fixtures"