diff --git a/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py b/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py
index 65d81d6649..6ddf36a1d4 100644
--- a/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py
+++ b/validate/launcher/baseclasses.py
@@ -999,6 +999,7 @@ class _TestsLauncher(Loggable):
         for tester in self.testers:
             total_num_tests += len(tester.list_tests())
 
+        self.reporter.init_timer()
         for tester in self.testers:
             res = tester.run_tests(cur_test_num, total_num_tests)
             cur_test_num += len(tester.list_tests())
diff --git a/validate/launcher/reporters.py b/validate/launcher/reporters.py
index 7b40e0a68a..ac3460d56e 100644
--- a/validate/launcher/reporters.py
+++ b/validate/launcher/reporters.py
@@ -66,8 +66,11 @@ class Reporter(Loggable):
                       }
         self.results = []
 
+    def init_timer(self):
+        """Initialize a timer before starting tests."""
+        self._start_time = time.time()
+
     def before_test(self, test):
-        """Initialize a timer before starting a test."""
         path = os.path.join(self.options.logsdir,
                             test.classname.replace(".", os.sep))
         mkdir(os.path.dirname(path))
@@ -81,9 +84,6 @@ class Reporter(Loggable):
             self.out = open(path, 'w+')
         self._current_test = test
 
-        if self._start_time == 0:
-            self._start_time = time.time()
-
     def set_failed(self, test):
         self.stats["failure"] += 1