diff --git a/api/v1/group_routes_test.go b/api/v1/group_routes_test.go
index 1a8f5eed8df..9893d87bfe4 100644
--- a/api/v1/group_routes_test.go
+++ b/api/v1/group_routes_test.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func getControlSurface(tb testing.TB, testState *lib.TestRunState) *ControlSurfa
 	execScheduler, err := execution.NewScheduler(testState)
 	require.NoError(tb, err)
 
-	me, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testState)
+	me, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testState.Registry, testState.Logger)
 	require.NoError(tb, err)
 
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
diff --git a/api/v1/setup_teardown_routes_test.go b/api/v1/setup_teardown_routes_test.go
index 790b8e14647..65917e0a8ab 100644
--- a/api/v1/setup_teardown_routes_test.go
+++ b/api/v1/setup_teardown_routes_test.go
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ func TestSetupData(t *testing.T) {
 
 			execScheduler, err := execution.NewScheduler(testState)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
-			metricsEngine, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testState)
+			metricsEngine, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testState.Registry, testState.Logger)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			globalCtx, globalCancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
diff --git a/api/v1/status_routes_test.go b/api/v1/status_routes_test.go
index 89365b23d48..f74f0ed5a20 100644
--- a/api/v1/status_routes_test.go
+++ b/api/v1/status_routes_test.go
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ func TestPatchStatus(t *testing.T) {
 			execScheduler, err := execution.NewScheduler(testState)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
-			metricsEngine, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testState)
+			metricsEngine, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testState.Registry, testState.Logger)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			globalCtx, globalCancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
diff --git a/cmd/run.go b/cmd/run.go
index cd69ed043a7..2c640513c17 100644
--- a/cmd/run.go
+++ b/cmd/run.go
@@ -147,17 +147,28 @@ func (c *cmdRun) run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	executionState := execScheduler.GetState()
-	metricsEngine, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(executionState.Test)
+	metricsEngine, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testRunState.Registry, logger)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	if !testRunState.RuntimeOptions.NoSummary.Bool || !testRunState.RuntimeOptions.NoThresholds.Bool {
+
+	// We'll need to pipe metrics to the MetricsEngine and process them if any
+	// of these are enabled: thresholds, end-of-test summary
+	shouldProcessMetrics := (!testRunState.RuntimeOptions.NoSummary.Bool ||
+		!testRunState.RuntimeOptions.NoThresholds.Bool)
+	var metricsIngester *engine.OutputIngester
+	if shouldProcessMetrics {
+		err = metricsEngine.InitSubMetricsAndThresholds(conf.Options, testRunState.RuntimeOptions.NoThresholds.Bool)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 		// We'll need to pipe metrics to the MetricsEngine if either the
 		// thresholds or the end-of-test summary are enabled.
-		outputs = append(outputs, metricsEngine.CreateIngester())
+		metricsIngester = metricsEngine.CreateIngester()
+		outputs = append(outputs, metricsIngester)
 	}
 
+	executionState := execScheduler.GetState()
 	if !testRunState.RuntimeOptions.NoSummary.Bool {
 		defer func() {
 			logger.Debug("Generating the end-of-test summary...")
@@ -208,7 +219,9 @@ func (c *cmdRun) run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 	}()
 
 	if !testRunState.RuntimeOptions.NoThresholds.Bool {
-		finalizeThresholds := metricsEngine.StartThresholdCalculations(runAbort, executionState.GetCurrentTestRunDuration)
+		finalizeThresholds := metricsEngine.StartThresholdCalculations(
+			metricsIngester, runAbort, executionState.GetCurrentTestRunDuration,
+		)
 		handleFinalThresholdCalculation := func() {
 			// This gets called after the Samples channel has been closed and
 			// the OutputManager has flushed all of the cached samples to
@@ -283,7 +296,7 @@ func (c *cmdRun) run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 	}
 
 	printExecutionDescription(
-		c.gs, "local", args[0], "", conf, execScheduler.GetState().ExecutionTuple, executionPlan, outputs,
+		c.gs, "local", args[0], "", conf, executionState.ExecutionTuple, executionPlan, outputs,
 	)
 
 	// Trap Interrupts, SIGINTs and SIGTERMs.
diff --git a/js/runner_test.go b/js/runner_test.go
index ed72b9828d3..4b34dcd1641 100644
--- a/js/runner_test.go
+++ b/js/runner_test.go
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ import (
 	"go.k6.io/k6/lib/testutils/mockoutput"
 	"go.k6.io/k6/lib/types"
 	"go.k6.io/k6/metrics"
-	"go.k6.io/k6/metrics/engine"
 	"go.k6.io/k6/output"
 )
 
@@ -387,23 +386,17 @@ func TestDataIsolation(t *testing.T) {
 	execScheduler, err := execution.NewScheduler(testRunState)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	metricsEngine, err := engine.NewMetricsEngine(testRunState)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
 	globalCtx, globalCancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	defer globalCancel()
 	runCtx, runAbort := execution.NewTestRunContext(globalCtx, testRunState.Logger)
 
 	mockOutput := mockoutput.New()
-	outputManager := output.NewManager([]output.Output{mockOutput, metricsEngine.CreateIngester()}, testRunState.Logger, runAbort)
+	outputManager := output.NewManager([]output.Output{mockOutput}, testRunState.Logger, runAbort)
 	samples := make(chan metrics.SampleContainer, 1000)
 	waitForMetricsFlushed, stopOutputs, err := outputManager.Start(samples)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer stopOutputs(nil)
 
-	finalizeThresholds := metricsEngine.StartThresholdCalculations(runAbort, execScheduler.GetState().GetCurrentTestRunDuration)
-	require.Nil(t, finalizeThresholds)
-
 	require.Empty(t, runner.defaultGroup.Groups)
 
 	stopEmission, err := execScheduler.Init(runCtx, samples)
diff --git a/metrics/engine/engine.go b/metrics/engine/engine.go
index 8aa81c11fad..55f0b87fdb7 100644
--- a/metrics/engine/engine.go
+++ b/metrics/engine/engine.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"go.k6.io/k6/errext/exitcodes"
 	"go.k6.io/k6/lib"
 	"go.k6.io/k6/metrics"
-	"go.k6.io/k6/output"
 	"gopkg.in/guregu/null.v3"
 )
 
@@ -25,13 +24,11 @@ const thresholdsRate = 2 * time.Second
 // aggregated metric sample values. They are used to generate the end-of-test
 // summary and to evaluate the test thresholds.
 type MetricsEngine struct {
-	logger         logrus.FieldLogger
-	test           *lib.TestRunState
-	outputIngester *outputIngester
+	registry *metrics.Registry
+	logger   logrus.FieldLogger
 
 	// These can be both top-level metrics or sub-metrics
-	metricsWithThresholds []*metrics.Metric
-
+	metricsWithThresholds   []*metrics.Metric
 	breachedThresholdsCount uint32
 
 	// TODO: completely refactor:
@@ -44,39 +41,31 @@ type MetricsEngine struct {
 }
 
 // NewMetricsEngine creates a new metrics Engine with the given parameters.
-func NewMetricsEngine(runState *lib.TestRunState) (*MetricsEngine, error) {
+func NewMetricsEngine(registry *metrics.Registry, logger logrus.FieldLogger) (*MetricsEngine, error) {
 	me := &MetricsEngine{
-		test:            runState,
-		logger:          runState.Logger.WithField("component", "metrics-engine"),
+		registry:        registry,
+		logger:          logger.WithField("component", "metrics-engine"),
 		ObservedMetrics: make(map[string]*metrics.Metric),
 	}
 
-	if !(me.test.RuntimeOptions.NoSummary.Bool && me.test.RuntimeOptions.NoThresholds.Bool) {
-		err := me.initSubMetricsAndThresholds()
-		if err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
-	}
-
 	return me, nil
 }
 
 // CreateIngester returns a pseudo-Output that uses the given metric samples to
 // update the engine's inner state.
-func (me *MetricsEngine) CreateIngester() output.Output {
-	me.outputIngester = &outputIngester{
+func (me *MetricsEngine) CreateIngester() *OutputIngester {
+	return &OutputIngester{
 		logger:        me.logger.WithField("component", "metrics-engine-ingester"),
 		metricsEngine: me,
 		cardinality:   newCardinalityControl(),
 	}
-	return me.outputIngester
 }
 
 func (me *MetricsEngine) getThresholdMetricOrSubmetric(name string) (*metrics.Metric, error) {
 	// TODO: replace with strings.Cut after Go 1.18
 	nameParts := strings.SplitN(name, "{", 2)
 
-	metric := me.test.Registry.Get(nameParts[0])
+	metric := me.registry.Get(nameParts[0])
 	if metric == nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("metric '%s' does not exist in the script", nameParts[0])
 	}
@@ -125,11 +114,14 @@ func (me *MetricsEngine) markObserved(metric *metrics.Metric) {
 	}
 }
 
-func (me *MetricsEngine) initSubMetricsAndThresholds() error {
-	for metricName, thresholds := range me.test.Options.Thresholds {
+// InitSubMetricsAndThresholds parses the thresholds from the test Options and
+// initializes both the thresholds themselves, as well as any submetrics that
+// were referenced in them.
+func (me *MetricsEngine) InitSubMetricsAndThresholds(options lib.Options, onlyLogErrors bool) error {
+	for metricName, thresholds := range options.Thresholds {
 		metric, err := me.getThresholdMetricOrSubmetric(metricName)
 
-		if me.test.RuntimeOptions.NoThresholds.Bool {
+		if onlyLogErrors {
 			if err != nil {
 				me.logger.WithError(err).Warnf("Invalid metric '%s' in threshold definitions", metricName)
 			}
@@ -154,7 +146,7 @@ func (me *MetricsEngine) initSubMetricsAndThresholds() error {
 
 	// TODO: refactor out of here when https://github.com/grafana/k6/issues/1321
 	// lands and there is a better way to enable a metric with tag
-	if me.test.Options.SystemTags.Has(metrics.TagExpectedResponse) {
+	if options.SystemTags.Has(metrics.TagExpectedResponse) {
 		_, err := me.getThresholdMetricOrSubmetric("http_req_duration{expected_response:true}")
 		if err != nil {
 			return err // shouldn't happen, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@ -167,10 +159,10 @@ func (me *MetricsEngine) initSubMetricsAndThresholds() error {
 // StartThresholdCalculations spins up a new goroutine to crunch thresholds and
 // returns a callback that will stop the goroutine and finalizes calculations.
 func (me *MetricsEngine) StartThresholdCalculations(
+	ingester *OutputIngester,
 	abortRun func(error),
 	getCurrentTestRunDuration func() time.Duration,
-) (finalize func() (breached []string),
-) {
+) (finalize func() (breached []string)) {
 	if len(me.metricsWithThresholds) == 0 {
 		return nil // no thresholds were defined
 	}
@@ -205,9 +197,9 @@ func (me *MetricsEngine) StartThresholdCalculations(
 	}()
 
 	return func() []string {
-		if me.outputIngester != nil {
+		if ingester != nil {
 			// Stop the ingester so we don't get any more metrics
-			err := me.outputIngester.Stop()
+			err := ingester.Stop()
 			if err != nil {
 				me.logger.WithError(err).Warnf("There was a problem stopping the output ingester.")
 			}
diff --git a/metrics/engine/engine_test.go b/metrics/engine/engine_test.go
index 06267cfa3c8..a941b4671b8 100644
--- a/metrics/engine/engine_test.go
+++ b/metrics/engine/engine_test.go
@@ -32,10 +32,12 @@ func TestNewMetricsEngineWithThresholds(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err = trs.Registry.NewMetric("metric2", metrics.Counter)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	me, err := NewMetricsEngine(trs)
+	me, err := NewMetricsEngine(trs.Registry, trs.Logger)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NotNil(t, me)
 
+	require.NoError(t, me.InitSubMetricsAndThresholds(trs.Options, false))
+
 	assert.Len(t, me.metricsWithThresholds, 2)
 }
 
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ func TestMetricsEngineGetThresholdMetricOrSubmetricError(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Parallel()
 
 			me := newTestMetricsEngine(t)
-			_, err := me.test.Registry.NewMetric("metric1", metrics.Counter)
+			_, err := me.registry.NewMetric("metric1", metrics.Counter)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			_, err = me.getThresholdMetricOrSubmetric(tc.metricDefinition)
@@ -69,16 +71,8 @@ func TestMetricsEngineGetThresholdMetricOrSubmetricError(t *testing.T) {
 func TestNewMetricsEngineNoThresholds(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	trs := &lib.TestRunState{
-		TestPreInitState: &lib.TestPreInitState{
-			Logger: testutils.NewLogger(t),
-		},
-	}
-
-	me, err := NewMetricsEngine(trs)
-	require.NoError(t, err)
+	me := newTestMetricsEngine(t)
 	require.NotNil(t, me)
-
 	assert.Empty(t, me.metricsWithThresholds)
 }
 
@@ -113,9 +107,9 @@ func TestMetricsEngineEvaluateThresholdNoAbort(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Parallel()
 			me := newTestMetricsEngine(t)
 
-			m1, err := me.test.Registry.NewMetric("m1", metrics.Counter)
+			m1, err := me.registry.NewMetric("m1", metrics.Counter)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
-			m2, err := me.test.Registry.NewMetric("m2", metrics.Counter)
+			m2, err := me.registry.NewMetric("m2", metrics.Counter)
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 
 			ths := metrics.NewThresholds([]string{tc.threshold})
@@ -138,9 +132,9 @@ func TestMetricsEngineEvaluateIgnoreEmptySink(t *testing.T) {
 
 	me := newTestMetricsEngine(t)
 
-	m1, err := me.test.Registry.NewMetric("m1", metrics.Counter)
+	m1, err := me.registry.NewMetric("m1", metrics.Counter)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	m2, err := me.test.Registry.NewMetric("m2", metrics.Counter)
+	m2, err := me.registry.NewMetric("m2", metrics.Counter)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	ths := metrics.NewThresholds([]string{"count>5"})
@@ -159,18 +153,10 @@ func TestMetricsEngineEvaluateIgnoreEmptySink(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Empty(t, breached)
 }
 
-func newTestMetricsEngine(t *testing.T) MetricsEngine {
-	trs := &lib.TestRunState{
-		TestPreInitState: &lib.TestPreInitState{
-			Logger:   testutils.NewLogger(t),
-			Registry: metrics.NewRegistry(),
-		},
-	}
-
-	return MetricsEngine{
-		logger: trs.Logger,
-		test:   trs,
-	}
+func newTestMetricsEngine(t *testing.T) *MetricsEngine {
+	m, err := NewMetricsEngine(metrics.NewRegistry(), testutils.NewLogger(t))
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	return m
 }
 
 func zeroTestRunDuration() time.Duration {
diff --git a/metrics/engine/ingester.go b/metrics/engine/ingester.go
index 62ffee8293e..496b6a6eaa7 100644
--- a/metrics/engine/ingester.go
+++ b/metrics/engine/ingester.go
@@ -13,16 +13,16 @@ const (
 	timeSeriesFirstLimit = 100_000
 )
 
-var _ output.Output = &outputIngester{}
+var _ output.Output = &OutputIngester{}
 
 // IngesterDescription is a short description for ingester.
 // This variable is used from a function in cmd/ui file for matching this output
 // and print a special text.
 const IngesterDescription = "Internal Metrics Ingester"
 
-// outputIngester implements the output.Output interface and can be used to
+// OutputIngester implements the output.Output interface and can be used to
 // "feed" the MetricsEngine data from a `k6 run` test run.
-type outputIngester struct {
+type OutputIngester struct {
 	output.SampleBuffer
 	logger logrus.FieldLogger
 
@@ -32,12 +32,12 @@ type outputIngester struct {
 }
 
 // Description returns a human-readable description of the output.
-func (oi *outputIngester) Description() string {
+func (oi *OutputIngester) Description() string {
 	return IngesterDescription
 }
 
 // Start the engine by initializing a new output.PeriodicFlusher
-func (oi *outputIngester) Start() error {
+func (oi *OutputIngester) Start() error {
 	oi.logger.Debug("Starting...")
 
 	pf, err := output.NewPeriodicFlusher(collectRate, oi.flushMetrics)
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ func (oi *outputIngester) Start() error {
 }
 
 // Stop flushes any remaining metrics and stops the goroutine.
-func (oi *outputIngester) Stop() error {
+func (oi *OutputIngester) Stop() error {
 	oi.logger.Debug("Stopping...")
 	defer oi.logger.Debug("Stopped!")
 	oi.periodicFlusher.Stop()
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func (oi *outputIngester) Stop() error {
 }
 
 // flushMetrics Writes samples to the MetricsEngine
-func (oi *outputIngester) flushMetrics() {
+func (oi *OutputIngester) flushMetrics() {
 	sampleContainers := oi.GetBufferedSamples()
 	if len(sampleContainers) == 0 {
 		return
diff --git a/metrics/engine/ingester_test.go b/metrics/engine/ingester_test.go
index 71f7a7c8497..b299322e363 100644
--- a/metrics/engine/ingester_test.go
+++ b/metrics/engine/ingester_test.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ func TestIngesterOutputFlushMetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	testMetric, err := piState.Registry.NewMetric("test_metric", metrics.Trend)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	ingester := outputIngester{
+	ingester := OutputIngester{
 		logger: piState.Logger,
 		metricsEngine: &MetricsEngine{
 			ObservedMetrics: make(map[string]*metrics.Metric),
@@ -55,9 +55,8 @@ func TestIngesterOutputFlushSubmetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	me := &MetricsEngine{
-		test: &lib.TestRunState{
-			TestPreInitState: piState,
-		},
+		logger:          piState.Logger,
+		registry:        piState.Registry,
 		ObservedMetrics: make(map[string]*metrics.Metric),
 	}
 	_, err = me.getThresholdMetricOrSubmetric("test_metric{a:1}")
@@ -66,7 +65,7 @@ func TestIngesterOutputFlushSubmetrics(t *testing.T) {
 	// assert that observed metrics is empty before to start
 	require.Empty(t, me.ObservedMetrics)
 
-	ingester := outputIngester{
+	ingester := OutputIngester{
 		logger:        piState.Logger,
 		metricsEngine: me,
 		cardinality:   newCardinalityControl(),
@@ -107,7 +106,7 @@ func TestOutputFlushMetricsTimeSeriesWarning(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	logger, hook := testutils.NewLoggerWithHook(nil)
-	ingester := outputIngester{
+	ingester := OutputIngester{
 		logger: logger,
 		metricsEngine: &MetricsEngine{
 			ObservedMetrics: make(map[string]*metrics.Metric),