diff --git a/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php b/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php
index f5a7db8362..9b33079f5f 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/includes/testcase.php
@@ -55,6 +55,19 @@ class WP_UnitTestCase extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
 		add_filter( 'wp_die_handler', array( $this, 'get_wp_die_handler' ) );
 
 		add_filter( 'wp_mail', array( $this, 'set_wp_mail_globals' ) );
+
+		/*
+		 * During multisite tests, WP_INSTALLING forces `get_option()` to miss the cache, which causes problems
+		 * with our query-counting cache tests. As a workaround in the case of tests that require checking
+		 * 'db_version' (such as any test that uses the Term Meta API), we filter 'pre_option_db_version' and
+		 * avoid hitting the database.
+		 *
+		 * See #31130.
+		 */
+		if ( is_multisite() ) {
+			$this->db_version = get_option( 'db_version' );
+			add_filter( 'pre_option_db_version', array( $this, 'db_version' ) );
+		}
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -617,4 +630,17 @@ class WP_UnitTestCase extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
 			return wp_delete_user( $user_id );
 		}
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Return the current database version without hitting the database.
+	 *
+	 * This is used to bypass cache problems with some multisite tests. See #31130.
+	 *
+	 * @todo Don't do this anymore once #31130 is fixed.
+	 *
+	 * @since 4.4.0
+	 */
+	public function db_version() {
+		return $this->db_version;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpInsertTerm.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpInsertTerm.php
index 0a63d26976..660872c14d 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpInsertTerm.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/wpInsertTerm.php
@@ -469,8 +469,8 @@ class Tests_Term_WpInsertTerm extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	 */
 	public function test_wp_insert_term_duplicate_slug_different_taxonomy_before_410_schema_change() {
 
-		$db_version = get_option( 'db_version' );
-		update_option( 'db_version', 30055 );
+		$_db_version = $this->db_version;
+		$this->db_version = 30055;
 
 		register_taxonomy( 'wptests_tax', 'post' );
 		register_taxonomy( 'wptests_tax_2', 'post' );
@@ -497,8 +497,8 @@ class Tests_Term_WpInsertTerm extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		$this->assertSame( 'foo-2', $new_term->slug );
 		$this->assertNotEquals( $new_term->term_id, $term->term_id );
 
+		$this->db_version = $_db_version;
 		_unregister_taxonomy( 'wptests_tax', 'post' );
-		update_option( 'db_version', $db_version );
 	}
 
 	public function test_wp_insert_term_alias_of_no_term_group() {