diff --git a/lib/tests/behat/behat_filters.php b/lib/tests/behat/behat_filters.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ce732d17b01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/tests/behat/behat_filters.php
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+<?php
+// This file is part of Moodle - http://moodle.org/
+//
+// Moodle is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+// it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+// the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// Moodle is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+// GNU General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+// along with Moodle.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+/**
+ * Steps definitions related to filters.
+ *
+ * @package    core
+ * @category   test
+ * @copyright  2018 the Open University
+ * @license    http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+
+// NOTE: no MOODLE_INTERNAL test here, this file may be required by behat before including /config.php.
+
+require_once(__DIR__ . '/../../behat/behat_base.php');
+require_once(__DIR__ . '/../../filterlib.php');
+
+
+/**
+ * Steps definitions related to filters.
+ *
+ * @package    core
+ * @category   test
+ * @copyright  2018 the Open University
+ * @license    http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU GPL v3 or later
+ */
+class behat_filters extends behat_base {
+
+    /**
+     * Set the global filter configuration.
+     *
+     * @Given /^the "(?P<filter_name>(?:[^"]|\\")*)" filter is "(on|off|disabled)"$/
+     *
+     * @param string $filtername the name of a filter, e.g. 'glossary'.
+     * @param string $statename 'on', 'off' or 'disabled'.
+     */
+    public function the_filter_is($filtername, $statename) {
+        switch ($statename) {
+            case 'on':
+                $state = TEXTFILTER_ON;
+                break;
+            case 'off':
+                $state = TEXTFILTER_OFF;
+                break;
+            case 'disabled':
+                $state = TEXTFILTER_DISABLED;
+                break;
+            default:
+                throw new coding_exception('Unknown filter state: ' . $statename);
+        }
+        filter_set_global_state($filtername, $state);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/mod/glossary/tests/behat/categories.feature b/mod/glossary/tests/behat/categories.feature
index fa458ae50ce..665f2c707f2 100644
--- a/mod/glossary/tests/behat/categories.feature
+++ b/mod/glossary/tests/behat/categories.feature
@@ -23,11 +23,7 @@ Feature: Glossary entries can be organised in categories
     And the following "activities" exist:
       | activity | name       | intro                                                           | course | idnumber  |
       | label    | name       | check autolinking of CategoryAutoLinks and CategoryNoLinks text | C1     | label1    |
-# Log in as admin and enable autolinking filter
-    And I log in as "admin"
-    And I navigate to "Plugins > Filters > Manage filters" in site administration
-    And I click on "On" "option" in the "Glossary auto-linking" "table_row"
-    And I log out
+    And the "glossary" filter is "on"
 # Log in as a teacher and make sure nothing is yet autolinked
     And I log in as "teacher1"
     When I am on "Course 1" course homepage