diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/bug54494.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/bug54494.phpt
index 29a4b2fb59925..c32a9ad6df111 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/bug54494.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/bug54494.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@
 Bug #54494: mb_substr() mishandles UTF-32LE and UCS-2LE
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-//declare(encoding = 'UTF-8');
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 header('Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-32LE');
 
 $stringOr = "hällö wörld\n";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/bug65045.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/bug65045.phpt
index 772533b7e13f8..55b467bac4b69 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/bug65045.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/bug65045.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Bug #65045: mb_convert_encoding breaks well-formed character
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $str = "\xF0\xA4\xAD".  "\xF0\xA4\xAD\xA2"."\xF0\xA4\xAD\xA2";
 $str2 = "\xF0\xA4\xAD\xA2"."\xF0\xA4\xAD\xA2"."\xF0\xA4\xAD";
 
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/bug79441.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/bug79441.phpt
index 243815d596706..7d89dd03ef271 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/bug79441.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/bug79441.phpt
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 Bug #79441 Segfault in mb_chr() if internal encoding is unsupported
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=utf-7
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding("utf-7");
 try {
     mb_chr(0xd800);
 } catch (\ValueError $e) {
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/gh7902.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/gh7902.phpt
index 7182731005ff6..e56c1792e1728 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/gh7902.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/gh7902.phpt
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ if (str_contains(getcwd(), " ")) die("skip sendmail_path ini with spaces");
 ?>
 --INI--
 sendmail_path={MAIL:{PWD}/gh7902.eml}
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_internal_encoding("UTF-8");
 mb_language("uni");
 $to = "omittedvalidaddress@example.com";
 $subject = "test mail";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/gh8086.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/gh8086.phpt
index 4882f46ca869b..af5c3a0877ee1 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/gh8086.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/gh8086.phpt
@@ -3,11 +3,11 @@ GH-8086 (mb_send_mail() function not working correctly in PHP 8.x)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
 --INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 sendmail_path={MAIL:{PWD}/gh8086.eml}
 mail.mixed_lf_and_crlf=on
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_internal_encoding("UTF-8");
 mb_language("uni");
 $to = "omittedvalidaddress@example.com";
 $subject = "test mail";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_basic.phpt
index cf50a57e8102e..dc26d00ff0d4f 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_basic.phpt
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_decode_mimeheader() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=utf-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_decode_mimeheader() : basic functionality ***\n";
-mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
 
 //the following encoded-words are identical and are UTF-8 Japanese.
 $a = "=?UTF-8?b?5pel5pys6Kqe44OG44Kt44K544OI44Gn44GZ44CC?=";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation2.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation2.phpt
index f869f777c3cae..8d2cac85951ed 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation2.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation2.phpt
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_decode_mimeheader() function : variation
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=utf-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_decode_mimeheader() : variation ***\n";
-mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
 
 //all the following are identical, we will convert to utf-8
 
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation3.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation3.phpt
index 6366131266a98..83caf436e5500 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation3.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_decode_mimeheader_variation3.phpt
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_decode_mimeheader() function : variation
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=iso-8859-7
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_decode_mimeheader() : variation ***\n";
-mb_internal_encoding('iso-8859-7');
 
 //greek in UTF-8 to be converted to iso-8859-7
 $encoded_word = "=?UTF-8?B?zrHOss6zzrTOtc62zrfOuM65zrrOu868zr3Ovs6/z4DPgc+Dz4TPhc+Gz4fPiM+J?=";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_indent.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_indent.phpt
index afaab29c87427..288401e0aee88 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_indent.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_indent.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_encode_mimeheader() function : basic functionality, indent
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=utf-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /* (string $str [, string $charset [, string $transfer_encoding [, string $linefeed [, int $indent]]]])
@@ -15,8 +17,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_encode_mimeheader() : indent ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
-
 // Initialise function arguments not being substituted
 $str = base64_decode('zpHPhc+Ez4wgzrXOr869zrHOuSDOtc67zrvOt869zrnOus+MIM66zrXOr868zrXOvc6/LiAwMTIzNDU2Nzg5Lg==');
 $charset = 'utf-8';
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_variation6.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_variation6.phpt
index cc3e3d0c2136e..b6cd3068f32d4 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_variation6.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_encode_mimeheader_variation6.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_encode_mimeheader() function : usage variations - Pass different strings to $linefeed arg
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=utf-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /* (string $str [, string $charset [, string $transfer_encoding [, string $linefeed [, int $indent]]]])
@@ -15,8 +17,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_encode_mimeheader() : usage variations ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
-
 $linefeeds = array("\r\n",
                    "\n",
                    "---");
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_match_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_match_basic.phpt
index d90d03ec35e84..5b7a8c2a54025 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_match_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_match_basic.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_ereg_match() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --SKIPIF--
 <?php
 function_exists('mb_ereg_match') or die("skip mb_ereg_match() is not available in this build");
@@ -12,7 +14,6 @@ function_exists('mb_ereg_match') or die("skip mb_ereg_match() is not available i
  * Test basic functionality of mb_ereg_match
  */
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
 mb_regex_encoding('UTF-8');
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_ereg_match() : basic functionality ***\n";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_replace_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_replace_basic.phpt
index b0fcd7809f41f..a3f18952d3750 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_replace_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ereg_replace_basic.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_ereg_replace() function : basic
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --SKIPIF--
 <?php
 function_exists('mb_ereg_replace') or die("skip mb_ereg_replace() is not available in this build");
@@ -14,7 +16,6 @@ function_exists('mb_ereg_replace') or die("skip mb_ereg_replace() is not availab
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_ereg_replace() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
 mb_regex_encoding('UTF-8');
 
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-01.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-01.phpt
index 99843098a3a81..006c08ead58a7 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-01.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-01.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (1)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: text/html");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-02.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-02.phpt
index afe07559eb4f7..447a7a189f1a2 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-02.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-02.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (2)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: text/plain");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-03.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-03.phpt
index 208dcf484659b..ee9729d391ec4 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-03.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-03.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (3)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: application/xhtml+xml");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-04.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-04.phpt
index c6ef01b09248c..fa60ff65a140b 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-04.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-04.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (4)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-05.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-05.phpt
index 1152a8e311043..b1d97e3e6caca 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-05.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-05.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (5)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
 echo "テスト";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-06.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-06.phpt
index baebdf8761352..b664b31bab6c4 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-06.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-06.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (6)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: text/html");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-07.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-07.phpt
index 0111cf012dda9..8de8c673cdfac 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-07.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-07.phpt
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (7)
 mbstring
 --INI--
 mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes=html
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: text/html");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-08.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-08.phpt
index 315900a131207..4862a052fc121 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-08.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-08.phpt
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (8)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
 --INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes=html
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: text/plain");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-09.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-09.phpt
index 26425dd4fc7a5..2fe853e9f1cbb 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-09.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-09.phpt
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (9)
 mbstring
 --INI--
 mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes=html
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: application/xhtml+xml");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-10.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-10.phpt
index b882eca550664..cc93a906a1dc7 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-10.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-10.phpt
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (10)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
 --INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes=html
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: application/octet-stream");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-11.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-11.phpt
index 408b55d49f591..36689a892e884 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-11.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-11.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (11)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
 echo "テスト";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-12.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-12.phpt
index 193eb6af85c7c..62b9692886398 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-12.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_pattern-12.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes (12)
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 header("Content-Type: text/html");
 ob_start();
 ob_start('mb_output_handler');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-01.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-01.phpt
index 601b58ece5e77..2feb75d5c0ced 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-01.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-01.phpt
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes alteration in runtim
 mbstring
 --INI--
 internal_encoding=UTF-8
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes=plain
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 ini_set('mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes', 'text');
 header("Content-Type: text/html");
 ob_start();
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-02.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-02.phpt
index ad2b7e0963212..36f4e0837edfc 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-02.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_output_handler_runtime_ini_alteration-02.phpt
@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ mb_output_handler() and mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes alteration in runtim
 mbstring
 --INI--
 internal_encoding=UTF-8
+output_encoding=EUC-JP
 mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes=html
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_http_output("EUC-JP");
 ini_set('mbstring.http_output_conv_mimetypes', 'application');
 header("Content-Type: text/html");
 ob_start();
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_error.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_error.phpt
index 43d8e626aafbc..2b287cf6f7449 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_error.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_error.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_parse_str() error handling
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
 
 $queries = array(
   "\x80\x80\x80",
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_multi.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_multi.phpt
index 1efb437f4a443..cafbd28e03196 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_multi.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_parse_str_multi.phpt
@@ -3,13 +3,13 @@ mb_parse_str() with multiple candidate encodings
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
 --INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 mbstring.http_input=UTF-8,SJIS,EUC-JP,ISO-8859-1,ISO-2022-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
 // The encoding of the input strings will be guessed, from the list specified
 // via mbstring.http_input
 // All of them will be converted to UTF-8
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
 
 $queries = array(
   // UTF-8
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic.phpt
index 864a98cd8305e..72ccb08610f36 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_stripos() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_stripos() : basic functionality***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii strings
 $ascii_haystacks = array(
    'abc defabc   def',
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic2.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic2.phpt
index 97a9a70687493..7a05050829746 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic2.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_basic2.phpt
@@ -1,17 +1,14 @@
 --TEST--
-Test mb_stripos() function : basic functionality
+Test mb_stripos() function : basic functionality with ASCII and multibyte characters
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
-/*
- * Test basic functionality of mb_stripos with ASCII and multibyte characters
- */
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_stripos() : basic functionality***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii strings
 $ascii_haystacks = array(
    'abc defabc   def',
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_empty_needle.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_empty_needle.phpt
index 3c1ad64d42004..b9155b2d9eebc 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_empty_needle.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_empty_needle.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_stripos() function :  with empty needle
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 // Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = "日本語テキストです。01234５６７８９。";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_invalid_offset.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_invalid_offset.phpt
index e7fcc3ded968b..d70a38b96544c 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_invalid_offset.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_invalid_offset.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 mb_stripos() with invalid offsets
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
 ini_set('include_path','.');
 include_once('common.inc');
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8') or print("mb_internal_encoding() failed\n");
 
 // Test string
 $string = '0123この文字列は日本語です。UTF-8を使っています。0123日本語は面倒臭い。';
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt
index f4d0a091f6a47..eb8aa862a528c 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_stripos() function : usage variations - Pass different integers as $offset argument
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
  * and the needle appears at the same positions in both strings
  */
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 echo "*** Testing mb_stripos() : usage variations ***\n";
 
 $string_ascii = '+Is an English string'; //21 chars
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_basic.phpt
index c8c7ea89d6ae2..b6ead67af16db 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_basic.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_stristr() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_stristr() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abcdef';
 $needle_ascii_upper = "BCD";
 $needle_ascii_mixed = "bCd";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_empty_needle.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_empty_needle.phpt
index b9a532217f95b..4d868ceb7188d 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_empty_needle.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_empty_needle.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_stristr() function : with empty needle
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 // Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = "日本語テキストです。01234５６７８９。";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_variation5.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_variation5.phpt
index feda43051b9ba..ad8fd7ea1b8f3 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_variation5.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_stristr_variation5.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_stristr() function : usage variation - multiple needles
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_stristr() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii mixed case, multiple needles
 $string_ascii = 'abcDef zBcDyx';
 $needle_ascii_upper = "BCD";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_basic.phpt
index 8b1dab34c3b80..6313f1f86f50d 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_basic.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_strpos() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_strpos() : basic functionality***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 //Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = base64_decode('5pel5pys6Kqe44OG44Kt44K544OI44Gn44GZ44CCMDEyMzTvvJXvvJbvvJfvvJjvvJnjgII=');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_empty_needle.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_empty_needle.phpt
index a77a01e827632..0cabbf805079b 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_empty_needle.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_empty_needle.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_strpos() function : with empty needle
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 // Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = "日本語テキストです。01234５６７８９。";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_invalid_offset.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_invalid_offset.phpt
index 48669b7277c89..fd5b7ba61e871 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_invalid_offset.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_invalid_offset.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 mb_strpos() with invalid offsets
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
 ini_set('include_path','.');
 include_once('common.inc');
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8') or print("mb_internal_encoding() failed\n");
 
 // Test string
 $string = '0123この文字列は日本語です。UTF-8を使っています。0123日本語は面倒臭い。';
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_variation5.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_variation5.phpt
index 4b2315772c655..bb2072aa36cde 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_variation5.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strpos_variation5.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_strpos() function : usage variations - Pass different integers as $offset argument
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
  * and the needle appears at the same positions in both strings
  */
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 echo "*** Testing mb_strpos() : usage variations ***\n";
 
 $string_ascii = '+Is an English string'; //21 chars
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_basic.phpt
index 2df6504f9c8f7..640813f1c66cc 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_basic.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strrchr() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strrchr() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 //Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = base64_decode('5pel5pys6Kqe44OG44Kt44K544OI44Gn44GZ44CCMDEyMzTvvJXvvJbvvJfvvJjvvJnjgII=');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_empty_needle.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_empty_needle.phpt
index 754bbebe0cac2..5b9a9979dd77a 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_empty_needle.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_empty_needle.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_strrchr() function : with empty needle
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 // Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = "日本語テキストです。01234５６７８９。";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation5.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation5.phpt
index 0a1950fdaa813..9d12c6dc99875 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation5.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation5.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strrchr() function : variation - multiple needles
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strrchr() : variation ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //with repeated needles
 $string_ascii = 'abcdef zbcdyx';
 $needle_ascii = "bcd";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation6.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation6.phpt
index f46f1fb89aa3f..a4691fd951376 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation6.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrchr_variation6.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strrchr() function : variation - case sensitivity
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strrchr() : variation ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii
 $string_ascii = 'abcdef';
 $needle_ascii_upper = "BCD";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_basic.phpt
index 946a2f9401883..fa69f164e9d8f 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_basic.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strrichr() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strrichr() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abcdef';
 $needle_ascii_upper = "BCD";
 $needle_ascii_mixed = "bCd";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_variation5.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_variation5.phpt
index 2340c6d5f8135..4577576d96130 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_variation5.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrichr_variation5.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strrichr() function : usage variation - multiple needles
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strrichr() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii mixed case, multiple needles
 $string_ascii = 'abcDef zBcDyx';
 $needle_ascii_upper = "BCD";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic.phpt
index 73bbe57f57a43..7a3a63809a342 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_strripos() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_strripos() : basic functionality***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii strings
 $ascii_haystacks = array(
    'abc defabc   def',
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic2.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic2.phpt
index 45a7f2380caa1..f73d4506278ee 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic2.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_basic2.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_strripos() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_strripos() : basic functionality***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii strings
 $ascii_haystacks = array(
    'abc defabc   def',
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_empty_needle.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_empty_needle.phpt
index 7f2ca9ee1ee3e..96de7ca6b2070 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_empty_needle.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_empty_needle.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_strripos() function : with empty needle
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 // Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = "日本語テキストです。01234５６７８９。";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt
index f0466598aadf9..e8bbcff1fb305 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strripos_variation5_Bug45923.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_strripos() function : usage variations - Pass different integers as $offset argument
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
  * and the needle appears at the same positions in both strings
  */
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 echo "*** Testing mb_strripos() : usage variations ***\n";
 
 $string_ascii = '+Is an English string'; //21 chars
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_basic.phpt
index 599dfd38da12a..1764d4ba6755d 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_basic.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_strrpos() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_strrpos() : basic ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'This is an English string. 0123456789.';
 //Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = base64_decode('5pel5pys6Kqe44OG44Kt44K544OI44Gn44GZ44CCMDEyMzTvvJXvvJbvvJfvvJjvvJnjgII=');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_empty_needle.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_empty_needle.phpt
index cffb58314c1c8..7c762d028bdb8 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_empty_needle.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strrpos_empty_needle.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_strrpos() function :  with empty needle
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 // Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = "日本語テキストです。01234５６７８９。";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_basic.phpt
index 21a29aa6acc38..77eed9a012f6c 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_basic.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strstr() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strstr() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 //Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = base64_decode('5pel5pys6Kqe44OG44Kt44K544OI44Gn44GZ44CCMDEyMzTvvJXvvJbvvJfvvJjvvJnjgII=');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_empty_needle.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_empty_needle.phpt
index df31dc2c6cc67..70a94f8ae80a3 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_empty_needle.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_empty_needle.phpt
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 Test mb_strstr() function : with empty needle
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = 'abc def';
 // Japanese string in UTF-8
 $string_mb = "日本語テキストです。01234５６７８９。";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation5.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation5.phpt
index f1d04633b07e4..7a60b746ca3c5 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation5.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation5.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strstr() function : variation - multiple needles
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strstr() : variation ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //with repeated needles
 $string_ascii = 'abcdef zbcdyx';
 $needle_ascii = "bcd";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation6.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation6.phpt
index ee4109bfabde5..b2152bb99520e 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation6.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strstr_variation6.phpt
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 Test mb_strstr() function : variation - case sensitivity
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 echo "*** Testing mb_strstr() : variation ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 //ascii
 $string_ascii = 'abcdef';
 $needle_ascii_upper = "BCD";
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strtoupper_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strtoupper_basic.phpt
index 5a8524c1681f3..532f380ae253d 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strtoupper_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_strtoupper_basic.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_strtoupper() function : basic functionality
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=utf-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,7 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_strtoupper() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
 $ascii_lower = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz';
 $ascii_upper = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';
 $greek_lower = base64_decode('zrHOss6zzrTOtc62zrfOuM65zrrOu868zr3Ovs6/z4DPgc+Dz4TPhc+Gz4fPiM+J');
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substitute_character_variation_strict_types.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substitute_character_variation_strict_types.phpt
index 9526528a1851a..9badcb95cf207 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substitute_character_variation_strict_types.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substitute_character_variation_strict_types.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_substitute_character() function : usage variation
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=utf-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 declare(strict_types=1);
@@ -93,7 +95,6 @@ $inputs = array(
 
 // loop through each element of the array for substchar
 
-mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
 foreach($inputs as $key =>$value) {
       echo "--$key--\n";
       try {
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_basic.phpt
index 31de868fb93cf..acce6f5140d63 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_basic.phpt
@@ -1,15 +1,11 @@
 --TEST--
-Test mb_substr() function : basic functionality
+Test mb_substr() function : basic functionality with ASCII characters and multibyte strings.
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
 --INI--
 internal_encoding=ISO-8859-1
 --FILE--
 <?php
-/*
- * Test Basic Functionality of mb_substr with ASCII characters and multibyte strings.
- */
-
 echo "*** Testing mb_substr() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
 $string_ascii = 'ABCDEF';
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count.phpt
index 2927419930b39..872f03f92f8cd 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count.phpt
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@ mb_substr_count()
 mbstring
 --INI--
 output_handler=
+internal_encoding=EUC-JP
 --FILE--
 <?php
-    mb_internal_encoding("EUC-JP");
 
     print "== Empty needle should raise an error ==\n";
     try {
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_basic.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_basic.phpt
index 31588592f77dc..32c3ef4e3d598 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_basic.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_basic.phpt
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@ Test mb_substr_count() function : basic functionality
 mbstring
 --FILE--
 <?php
-/*
- * Test Basic functionality of mb_substr_count
- */
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_substr_count() : basic functionality ***\n";
 
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_error2.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_error2.phpt
index b1a8241cae601..489319e408da9 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_error2.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_count_error2.phpt
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@ Test mb_substr_count() function : error conditions - pass unknown encoding
 mbstring
 --FILE--
 <?php
-/*
- * Test behaviour of mb_substr_count() function when passed an unknown encoding
- */
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_substr_count() : error conditions ***\n";
 
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation4.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation4.phpt
index 49109b03ce09a..09f4e05d7e6cd 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation4.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation4.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_substr() function : usage variations - pass different integers to $start arg
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_substr() : usage variations ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = '+Is an English string'; //21 chars
 
 $string_mb = base64_decode('5pel5pys6Kqe44OG44Kt44K544OI44Gn44GZ44CCMDEyMzTvvJXvvJbvvJfvvJjvvJnjgII='); //21 chars
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation5.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation5.phpt
index ebcf6df49fcc1..811021bcb540c 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation5.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation5.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_substr() function : usage variations - pass different integers to $length arg
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_substr() : usage variations ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = '+Is an English string'; //21 chars
 
 //Japanese string, 21 characters
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation6.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation6.phpt
index 589cd4ee3e2d4..cc86f762bddaa 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation6.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation6.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_substr() function : usage variations - pass different integers to $start arg
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_substr() : usage variations ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = '+Is an English string'; //21 chars
 
 $string_mb = base64_decode('5pel5pys6Kqe44OG44Kt44K544OI44Gn44GZ44CCMDEyMzTvvJXvvJbvvJfvvJjvvJnjgII='); //21 chars
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation7.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation7.phpt
index 0738cd52f7a66..f89b1ddc38fd3 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation7.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_substr_variation7.phpt
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 Test mb_substr() function : usage variations - pass different integers to $length arg
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
 /*
@@ -10,8 +12,6 @@ mbstring
 
 echo "*** Testing mb_substr() : usage variations ***\n";
 
-mb_internal_encoding('UTF-8');
-
 $string_ascii = '+Is an English string'; //21 chars
 
 //Japanese string, 21 characters
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_trim.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_trim.phpt
index fa4c02487f5c2..7133e327f8263 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_trim.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_trim.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_trim() function tests
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_internal_encoding("UTF-8");
 
 echo "== Copy from trim ==\n";
 var_dump('ABC' ===  mb_trim('ABC'));
diff --git a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ucfirst_lcfirst.phpt b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ucfirst_lcfirst.phpt
index d133d03270f8c..0a40139232e61 100644
--- a/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ucfirst_lcfirst.phpt
+++ b/ext/mbstring/tests/mb_ucfirst_lcfirst.phpt
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 mb_ucfirst(), mb_lcfirst functions tests
 --EXTENSIONS--
 mbstring
+--INI--
+internal_encoding=UTF-8
 --FILE--
 <?php
-mb_internal_encoding("UTF-8");
 
 function test_ascii_mb_ucfirst() {
 	for ($i = 0; $i < 128; $i++) {
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities06.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities06.phpt
index c046c798d9a71..4066b6c2e6804 100644
--- a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities06.phpt
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities06.phpt
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ internal_encoding=ISO-8859-15
 mbstring
 --FILE--
 <?php
-    mb_internal_encoding('ISO-8859-15');
     print mb_internal_encoding()."\n";
     var_dump(htmlentities("\xbc\xbd\xbe", ENT_QUOTES, ''));
 ?>
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities07.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities07.phpt
index 421a1c7c7abed..7e735a434ab80 100644
--- a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities07.phpt
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities07.phpt
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ internal_encoding=ISO-8859-1
 mbstring
 --FILE--
 <?php
-    mb_internal_encoding('ISO-8859-1');
     print mb_internal_encoding()."\n";
     var_dump(htmlentities("\xe4\xf6\xfc", ENT_QUOTES, ''));
 ?>
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities08.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities08.phpt
index 38d1d1008cade..3b177a4b99452 100644
--- a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities08.phpt
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities08.phpt
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ internal_encoding=EUC-JP
 mbstring
 --FILE--
 <?php
-    mb_internal_encoding('EUC-JP');
     print mb_internal_encoding()."\n";
     var_dump(htmlentities("\xa1\xa2\xa1\xa3\xa1\xa4", ENT_QUOTES, ''));
 ?>
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities09.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities09.phpt
index bdd5aa39e4aaa..891cababb55a5 100644
--- a/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities09.phpt
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/strings/htmlentities09.phpt
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ internal_encoding=Shift_JIS
 mbstring
 --FILE--
 <?php
-    mb_internal_encoding('Shift_JIS');
     print mb_internal_encoding()."\n";
     var_dump(bin2hex(htmlentities("\x81\x41\x81\x42\x81\x43", ENT_QUOTES, '')));
 ?>