diff --git a/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageView.java b/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageView.java
index affc695e9..7a31e1607 100644
--- a/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageView.java
+++ b/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageView.java
@@ -1022,6 +1022,8 @@ public class MessageView extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
 
     /**
      * Async task for loading a single message outside of the UI thread
+     * Note:  To support unit testing, a sentinel messageId of Long.MIN_VALUE prevents
+     * loading the message but leaves the activity open.
      */
     private class LoadMessageTask extends AsyncTask<Void, Void, Message> {
 
@@ -1038,13 +1040,18 @@ public class MessageView extends Activity implements OnClickListener {
 
         @Override
         protected Message doInBackground(Void... params) {
+            if (mId == Long.MIN_VALUE)  {
+                return null;
+            }
             return Message.restoreMessageWithId(MessageView.this, mId);
         }
 
         @Override
         protected void onPostExecute(Message message) {
             if (message == null) {
-                finish();
+                if (mId != Long.MIN_VALUE) {
+                    finish();
+                }
                 return;
             }
             reloadUiFromMessage(message, mOkToFetch);
diff --git a/tests/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewTests.java b/tests/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewTests.java
index 890e90d1d..e23957b5e 100644
--- a/tests/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewTests.java
+++ b/tests/src/com/android/email/activity/MessageViewTests.java
@@ -36,8 +36,6 @@ import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 
 /**
  * Various instrumentation tests for MessageCompose.  
@@ -49,15 +47,9 @@ public class MessageViewTests
         extends ActivityInstrumentationTestCase2<MessageView> {
     
     // copied from MessageView (could be package class)
-    private static final String EXTRA_ACCOUNT_ID = "com.android.email.MessageView_account_id";
-    private static final String EXTRA_FOLDER = "com.android.email.MessageView_folder";
-    private static final String EXTRA_MESSAGE = "com.android.email.MessageView_message";
-    private static final String EXTRA_FOLDER_UIDS = "com.android.email.MessageView_folderUids";
+    private static final String EXTRA_MESSAGE_ID = "com.android.email.MessageView_message_id";
+    private static final String EXTRA_MAILBOX_ID = "com.android.email.MessageView_mailbox_id";
 
-    // used by the mock controller
-    private static final String FOLDER_NAME = "folder";
-    private static final String MESSAGE_UID = "message_uid";
-    
     private TextView mToView;
     private TextView mSubjectView;
     private WebView mMessageContentView;
@@ -75,14 +67,10 @@ public class MessageViewTests
         Email.setServicesEnabled(mContext);
         
         // setup an intent to spin up this activity with something useful
-        ArrayList<String> FOLDER_UIDS = new ArrayList<String>(
-                Arrays.asList(new String[]{ "why", "is", "java", "so", "ugly?" }));
-        // Log.d("MessageViewTest", "--- folder:" + FOLDER_UIDS);
+        // Long.MIN_VALUE are sentinels to command MessageView to skip loading
         Intent i = new Intent()
-            .putExtra(EXTRA_ACCOUNT_ID, -1)
-            .putExtra(EXTRA_FOLDER, FOLDER_NAME)
-            .putExtra(EXTRA_MESSAGE, MESSAGE_UID)
-            .putStringArrayListExtra(EXTRA_FOLDER_UIDS, FOLDER_UIDS);
+            .putExtra(EXTRA_MESSAGE_ID, Long.MIN_VALUE)
+            .putExtra(EXTRA_MAILBOX_ID, Long.MIN_VALUE);
         this.setActivityIntent(i);
 
         // configure a mock controller