diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index ef45a883f7b7797facac85b4446574c64b806ebe..a51252ca71e2904e0adbe24dbea89e91c26f97c3 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -2,14 +2,10 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
 
-import os
 import pathlib
-import tempfile
 import typing
-import zipfile
 
 import pytest
-import tomli_w
 import torch
 
 from torchvision.transforms.functional import to_pil_image
@@ -100,55 +96,6 @@ def temporary_basedir(tmp_path_factory):
     return tmp_path_factory.mktemp("test-cli")
 
 
-def pytest_sessionstart(session: pytest.Session) -> None:
-    """Preset the session start to ensure the Montgomery dataset is always available.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    session
-        The session to use.
-    """
-
-    from mednet.utils.rc import load_rc
-
-    rc = load_rc()
-
-    database_dir = rc.get("datadir.montgomery")
-    if database_dir is not None:
-        # if the user downloaded it, use that copy
-        return
-
-    # else, we must extract the LFS component (we are likely on the CI)
-    archive = (
-        pathlib.Path(__file__).parents[0] / "data" / "lfs" / "test-database.zip"
-    )
-    assert archive.exists(), (
-        f"Neither datadir.montgomery is set on the global configuration, "
-        f"(typically ~/.config/mednet.toml), or it is possible to detect "
-        f"the presence of {archive}' (did you git submodule init --update "
-        f"this submodule?)"
-    )
-
-    montgomery_tempdir = tempfile.TemporaryDirectory()
-    rc.setdefault("datadir.montgomery", montgomery_tempdir.name)
-
-    with zipfile.ZipFile(archive) as zf:
-        zf.extractall(montgomery_tempdir.name)
-
-    config_filename = "mednet.toml"
-    with open(
-        os.path.join(montgomery_tempdir.name, config_filename), "wb"
-    ) as f:
-        tomli_w.dump(rc.data, f)
-        f.flush()
-
-    os.environ["XDG_CONFIG_HOME"] = montgomery_tempdir.name
-
-    # stash the newly created temporary directory so we can erase it when the
-    key = pytest.StashKey[tempfile.TemporaryDirectory]()
-    session.stash[key] = montgomery_tempdir
-
-
 class DatabaseCheckers:
     """Helpers for database tests."""