diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 70a833a46b4b..36428f628ce1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@
 ### Chore & Maintenance
 
 - `[website]` Switch domain to https://jestjs.io ([#6549](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/6549))
+- `[tests]` Free tests from the dependency on value of FORCE_COLOR ([#6585](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/6585/files))
 - `[tests]` Improve stability of `yarn test` on Windows ([#6534](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/6534))
 - `[*]` Transpile object shorthand into Node 4 compatible syntax ([#6582](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/6582))
 - `[*]` Update all legacy links to jestjs.io ([#6622](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/6622))
diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/coverage_report.test.js b/e2e/__tests__/coverage_report.test.js
index 98cf792dac3e..66bbbd19d064 100644
--- a/e2e/__tests__/coverage_report.test.js
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/coverage_report.test.js
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ import runJest from '../runJest';
 const DIR = path.resolve(__dirname, '../coverage-report');
 
 test('outputs coverage report', () => {
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--no-cache', '--coverage']);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--no-cache', '--coverage'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   const coverageDir = path.resolve(__dirname, '../coverage-report/coverage');
 
   // - the `setup.js` file is ignored and should not be in the coverage report.
@@ -31,53 +33,71 @@ test('outputs coverage report', () => {
 });
 
 test('collects coverage only from specified file', () => {
-  const {stdout} = runJest(DIR, [
-    '--no-cache',
-    '--coverage',
-    '--collectCoverageFrom', // overwrites the one in package.json
-    'setup.js',
-  ]);
+  const {stdout} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    [
+      '--no-cache',
+      '--coverage',
+      '--collectCoverageFrom', // overwrites the one in package.json
+      'setup.js',
+    ],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
 
   // Coverage report should only have `setup.js` coverage info
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
 
 test('collects coverage only from multiple specified files', () => {
-  const {stdout} = runJest(DIR, [
-    '--no-cache',
-    '--coverage',
-    '--collectCoverageFrom',
-    'setup.js',
-    '--collectCoverageFrom',
-    'OtherFile.js',
-  ]);
+  const {stdout} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    [
+      '--no-cache',
+      '--coverage',
+      '--collectCoverageFrom',
+      'setup.js',
+      '--collectCoverageFrom',
+      'OtherFile.js',
+    ],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
 
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
 
 test('collects coverage only from specified files avoiding dependencies', () => {
-  const {stdout} = runJest(DIR, [
-    '--no-cache',
-    '--coverage',
-    '--collectCoverageOnlyFrom',
-    'Sum.js',
-    '--',
-    'Sum.test.js',
-  ]);
+  const {stdout} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    [
+      '--no-cache',
+      '--coverage',
+      '--collectCoverageOnlyFrom',
+      'Sum.js',
+      '--',
+      'Sum.test.js',
+    ],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
 
   // Coverage report should only have `sum.js` coverage info
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
 
 test('json reporter printing with --coverage', () => {
-  const {stderr, status} = runJest('json-reporter', ['--coverage']);
+  const {stderr, status} = runJest('json-reporter', ['--coverage'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   const {summary} = extractSummary(stderr);
   expect(status).toBe(1);
   expect(summary).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
 
 test('outputs coverage report as json', () => {
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--no-cache', '--coverage', '--json']);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    ['--no-cache', '--coverage', '--json'],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
   expect(status).toBe(0);
 
   try {
@@ -90,35 +110,43 @@ test('outputs coverage report as json', () => {
 });
 
 test('outputs coverage report when text is requested', () => {
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, [
-    '--no-cache',
-    '--coverage',
-    '--coverageReporters=text',
-    '--coverageReporters=html',
-  ]);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    [
+      '--no-cache',
+      '--coverage',
+      '--coverageReporters=text',
+      '--coverageReporters=html',
+    ],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
   expect(status).toBe(0);
   expect(stdout).toMatch(/Stmts | . Branch/);
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
 
 test('outputs coverage report when text-summary is requested', () => {
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, [
-    '--no-cache',
-    '--coverage',
-    '--coverageReporters=text-summary',
-  ]);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    ['--no-cache', '--coverage', '--coverageReporters=text-summary'],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
   expect(status).toBe(0);
   expect(stdout).toMatch(/Coverage summary/);
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
 
 test('outputs coverage report when text and text-summary is requested', () => {
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, [
-    '--no-cache',
-    '--coverage',
-    '--coverageReporters=text-summary',
-    '--coverageReporters=text',
-  ]);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    [
+      '--no-cache',
+      '--coverage',
+      '--coverageReporters=text-summary',
+      '--coverageReporters=text',
+    ],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
   expect(status).toBe(0);
   expect(stdout).toMatch(/Stmts | . Branch/);
   expect(stdout).toMatch(/Coverage summary/);
@@ -126,11 +154,11 @@ test('outputs coverage report when text and text-summary is requested', () => {
 });
 
 test('does not output coverage report when html is requested', () => {
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, [
-    '--no-cache',
-    '--coverage',
-    '--coverageReporters=html',
-  ]);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(
+    DIR,
+    ['--no-cache', '--coverage', '--coverageReporters=html'],
+    {stripAnsi: true},
+  );
   expect(status).toBe(0);
   expect(stdout).toMatch(/^$/);
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
@@ -150,10 +178,10 @@ test('collects coverage from duplicate files avoiding shared cache', () => {
     'Identical.test.js',
   ];
   // Run once to prime the cache
-  runJest(DIR, args);
+  runJest(DIR, args, {stripAnsi: true});
 
   // Run for the second time
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, args);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, args, {stripAnsi: true});
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
   expect(status).toBe(0);
 });
diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/coverage_threshold.test.js b/e2e/__tests__/coverage_threshold.test.js
index bc1256308b7b..be071087ca5b 100644
--- a/e2e/__tests__/coverage_threshold.test.js
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/coverage_threshold.test.js
@@ -44,7 +44,9 @@ test('exits with 1 if coverage threshold is not met', () => {
     'package.json': JSON.stringify(pkgJson, null, 2),
   });
 
-  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false']);
+  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   const {rest, summary} = extractSummary(stderr);
 
   expect(status).toBe(1);
@@ -79,7 +81,9 @@ test('exits with 1 if path threshold group is not found in coverage data', () =>
     'package.json': JSON.stringify(pkgJson, null, 2),
   });
 
-  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false']);
+  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   const {rest, summary} = extractSummary(stderr);
 
   expect(status).toBe(1);
@@ -117,7 +121,9 @@ test('exits with 0 if global threshold group is not found in coverage data', ()
     'package.json': JSON.stringify(pkgJson, null, 2),
   });
 
-  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false']);
+  const {stdout, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
 
   expect(status).toBe(0);
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot('stdout');
@@ -157,7 +163,9 @@ test('excludes tests matched by path threshold groups from global group', () =>
     'package.json': JSON.stringify(pkgJson, null, 2),
   });
 
-  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false']);
+  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   const {rest, summary} = extractSummary(stderr);
 
   expect(status).toBe(1);
@@ -198,7 +206,9 @@ test('file is matched by all path and glob threshold groups', () => {
     'package.json': JSON.stringify(pkgJson, null, 2),
   });
 
-  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false']);
+  const {stdout, stderr, status} = runJest(DIR, ['--coverage', '--ci=false'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   const {rest, summary} = extractSummary(
     /* This test also runs on windows and when the glob fails it outputs
     the system specific absolute path to the test file. */
diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/find_related_files.test.js b/e2e/__tests__/find_related_files.test.js
index 10b82c3cc832..2024e1dd97e5 100644
--- a/e2e/__tests__/find_related_files.test.js
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/find_related_files.test.js
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ describe('--findRelatedTests flag', () => {
     let stdout;
     let stderr;
 
-    ({stdout, stderr} = runJest(DIR));
+    ({stdout, stderr} = runJest(DIR, [], {stripAnsi: true}));
     let summary;
     let rest;
     ({summary, rest} = extractSummary(stderr));
@@ -79,7 +79,9 @@ describe('--findRelatedTests flag', () => {
     // both a.js and b.js should be in the coverage
     expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
 
-    ({stdout, stderr} = runJest(DIR, ['--findRelatedTests', 'a.js']));
+    ({stdout, stderr} = runJest(DIR, ['--findRelatedTests', 'a.js'], {
+      stripAnsi: true,
+    }));
 
     ({summary, rest} = extractSummary(stderr));
 
@@ -110,7 +112,9 @@ describe('--findRelatedTests flag', () => {
 
     let stdout;
     let stderr;
-    ({stdout, stderr} = runJest(DIR, ['--findRelatedTests', 'a.js', 'b.js']));
+    ({stdout, stderr} = runJest(DIR, ['--findRelatedTests', 'a.js', 'b.js'], {
+      stripAnsi: true,
+    }));
 
     const {summary, rest} = extractSummary(stderr);
     expect(summary).toMatchSnapshot();
diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/module_name_mapper.test.js b/e2e/__tests__/module_name_mapper.test.js
index 283b19d1bce4..84119593751a 100644
--- a/e2e/__tests__/module_name_mapper.test.js
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/module_name_mapper.test.js
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ test('moduleNameMapper wrong configuration', () => {
 });
 
 test('moduleNameMapper correct configuration', () => {
-  const {stderr, status} = runJest('module-name-mapper-correct-config');
+  const {stderr, status} = runJest('module-name-mapper-correct-config', [], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   const {rest} = extractSummary(stderr);
 
   expect(status).toBe(0);
diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/transform.test.js b/e2e/__tests__/transform.test.js
index 78c4b52e0839..619af7c52cf6 100644
--- a/e2e/__tests__/transform.test.js
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/transform.test.js
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@ describe('babel-jest', () => {
   });
 
   it('instruments only specific files and collects coverage', () => {
-    const {stdout} = runJest(dir, ['--coverage', '--no-cache']);
+    const {stdout} = runJest(dir, ['--coverage', '--no-cache'], {
+      stripAnsi: true,
+    });
     expect(stdout).toMatch('Covered.js');
     expect(stdout).not.toMatch('NotCovered.js');
     expect(stdout).not.toMatch('ExcludedFromCoverage.js');
@@ -63,11 +65,11 @@ describe('no babel-jest', () => {
   });
 
   test('instrumentation with no babel-jest', () => {
-    const {stdout} = runJest(tempDir, [
-      '--no-cache',
-      '--coverage',
-      '--no-watchman',
-    ]);
+    const {stdout} = runJest(
+      tempDir,
+      ['--no-cache', '--coverage', '--no-watchman'],
+      {stripAnsi: true},
+    );
     expect(stdout).toMatch('Covered.js');
     expect(stdout).not.toMatch('ExcludedFromCoverage.js');
     // coverage result should not change
@@ -92,7 +94,9 @@ describe('custom transformer', () => {
   });
 
   it('instruments files', () => {
-    const {stdout, status} = runJest(dir, ['--no-cache', '--coverage']);
+    const {stdout, status} = runJest(dir, ['--no-cache', '--coverage'], {
+      stripAnsi: true,
+    });
     // coverage should be empty because there's no real instrumentation
     expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
     expect(status).toBe(0);
diff --git a/e2e/__tests__/typescript_coverage.test.js b/e2e/__tests__/typescript_coverage.test.js
index dcc0ed13f300..cae19b1fc555 100644
--- a/e2e/__tests__/typescript_coverage.test.js
+++ b/e2e/__tests__/typescript_coverage.test.js
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import runJest from '../runJest';
 it('instruments and collects coverage for typescript files', () => {
   const dir = path.resolve(__dirname, '../typescript-coverage');
   run('yarn', dir);
-  const {stdout} = runJest(dir, ['--coverage', '--no-cache']);
+  const {stdout} = runJest(dir, ['--coverage', '--no-cache'], {
+    stripAnsi: true,
+  });
   expect(stdout).toMatchSnapshot();
 });
diff --git a/e2e/runJest.js b/e2e/runJest.js
index 8c3c2277d02c..dca157aebbd1 100644
--- a/e2e/runJest.js
+++ b/e2e/runJest.js
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 import fs from 'fs';
 import execa, {sync as spawnSync} from 'execa';
 import {Writable} from 'readable-stream';
+const stripAnsi = require('strip-ansi');
 import {normalizeIcons} from './Utils';
 
 const JEST_PATH = path.resolve(__dirname, '../packages/jest-cli/bin/jest.js');
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ const JEST_PATH = path.resolve(__dirname, '../packages/jest-cli/bin/jest.js');
 type RunJestOptions = {
   nodePath?: string,
   skipPkgJsonCheck?: boolean, // don't complain if can't find package.json
+  stripAnsi?: boolean, // remove colors from stdout and stderr
 };
 
 // return the result of the spawned process:
@@ -47,13 +49,8 @@ export default function runJest(
     );
   }
 
-  const env = options.nodePath
-    ? Object.assign({}, process.env, {
-        FORCE_COLOR: 0,
-        NODE_PATH: options.nodePath,
-      })
-    : process.env;
-
+  const env = Object.assign({}, process.env, {FORCE_COLOR: 0});
+  if (options.nodePath) env['NODE_PATH'] = options.nodePath;
   const result = spawnSync(JEST_PATH, args || [], {
     cwd: dir,
     env,
@@ -64,7 +61,9 @@ export default function runJest(
   result.status = result.code;
 
   result.stdout = normalizeIcons(result.stdout);
+  if (options.stripAnsi) result.stdout = stripAnsi(result.stdout);
   result.stderr = normalizeIcons(result.stderr);
+  if (options.stripAnsi) result.stderr = stripAnsi(result.stderr);
 
   return result;
 }
@@ -120,12 +119,8 @@ export const until = async function(
     );
   }
 
-  const env = options.nodePath
-    ? Object.assign({}, process.env, {
-        FORCE_COLOR: 0,
-        NODE_PATH: options.nodePath,
-      })
-    : process.env;
+  const env = Object.assign({}, process.env, {FORCE_COLOR: 0});
+  if (options.nodePath) env['NODE_PATH'] = options.nodePath;
 
   const jestPromise = execa(JEST_PATH, args || [], {
     cwd: dir,
@@ -153,7 +148,9 @@ export const until = async function(
   result.status = result.code;
 
   result.stdout = normalizeIcons(result.stdout);
+  if (options.stripAnsi) result.stdout = stripAnsi(result.stdout);
   result.stderr = normalizeIcons(result.stderr);
+  if (options.stripAnsi) result.stderr = stripAnsi(result.stderr);
 
   return result;
 };