diff --git a/integration/__tests__/app.tests.ts b/integration/__tests__/app.tests.ts
index 604ac43323..74081a2061 100644
--- a/integration/__tests__/app.tests.ts
+++ b/integration/__tests__/app.tests.ts
@@ -47,17 +47,23 @@ describe("Lens integration tests", () => {
       await clickWhatsNew(app)
     })
 
-    // Todo figure out how to access main menu to get these to work
-    it.skip('shows "add cluster"', async () => {
-      await app.client.keys(['Shift', 'Meta', 'A'])
+    it('shows "add cluster"', async () => {
+      await app.electron.ipcRenderer.send('test-menu-item-click', "File", "Add Cluster")
       await app.client.waitUntilTextExists("h2", "Add Cluster")
-      await app.client.keys(['Shift', 'Meta'])
     })
 
-    it.skip('shows "preferences"', async () => {
-      await app.client.keys(['Meta', ','])
-      await app.client.waitUntilTextExists("h2", "Preferences")
-      await app.client.keys('Meta')
+    describe("preferences page", () => {
+      it('shows "preferences"', async () => {
+        let appName: string = process.platform === "darwin" ? "Lens" : "File"
+        await app.electron.ipcRenderer.send('test-menu-item-click', appName, "Preferences")
+        await app.client.waitUntilTextExists("h2", "Preferences")
+      })
+
+      it('ensures helm repos', async () => {
+        await app.client.waitUntilTextExists("div.repos #message-stable", "stable") // wait for the helm-cli to fetch the stable repo
+        await app.client.click("#HelmRepoSelect") // click the repo select to activate the drop-down
+        await app.client.waitUntilTextExists("div.Select__option", "")  // wait for at least one option to appear (any text)
+      })
     })
 
     it.skip('quits Lens"', async () => {
diff --git a/src/main/menu.ts b/src/main/menu.ts
index cb8f260dcf..bc4be680cf 100644
--- a/src/main/menu.ts
+++ b/src/main/menu.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-import { app, BrowserWindow, dialog, Menu, MenuItem, MenuItemConstructorOptions, webContents, shell } from "electron"
+import { app, BrowserWindow, dialog, ipcMain, IpcMainEvent, Menu, MenuItem, MenuItemConstructorOptions, webContents, shell } from "electron"
 import { autorun } from "mobx";
 import { WindowManager } from "./window-manager";
-import { appName, isMac, isWindows } from "../common/vars";
+import { appName, isMac, isWindows, isTestEnv } from "../common/vars";
 import { addClusterURL } from "../renderer/components/+add-cluster/add-cluster.route";
 import { preferencesURL } from "../renderer/components/+preferences/preferences.route";
 import { whatsNewURL } from "../renderer/components/+whats-new/whats-new.route";
@@ -235,4 +235,38 @@ export function buildMenu(windowManager: WindowManager) {
 
   const menu = Menu.buildFromTemplate(Object.values(appMenu));
   Menu.setApplicationMenu(menu);
+
+  if (isTestEnv) {
+    // this is a workaround for the test environment (spectron) not being able to directly access
+    // the application menus (https://github.com/electron-userland/spectron/issues/21)
+    ipcMain.on('test-menu-item-click', (event: IpcMainEvent, ...names: string[]) => {
+      let menu: Menu = Menu.getApplicationMenu()
+      const parentLabels: string[] = [];
+      let menuItem: MenuItem
+
+      for (const name of names) {
+        parentLabels.push(name);
+        menuItem = menu?.items?.find(item => item.label === name);
+        if (!menuItem) {
+          break;
+        }
+        menu = menuItem.submenu;
+      }
+    
+      const menuPath: string = parentLabels.join(" -> ")
+      if (!menuItem) {
+        logger.info(`[MENU:test-menu-item-click] Cannot find menu item ${menuPath}`);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const { enabled, visible, click } = menuItem;
+      if (enabled === false || visible === false || typeof click !== 'function') {
+        logger.info(`[MENU:test-menu-item-click] Menu item ${menuPath} not clickable`);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      logger.info(`[MENU:test-menu-item-click] Menu item ${menuPath} click!`);
+      menuItem.click();
+    });
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/+preferences/preferences.tsx b/src/renderer/components/+preferences/preferences.tsx
index 22cbd4a7b1..2fc58646df 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/+preferences/preferences.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/+preferences/preferences.tsx
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ export class Preferences extends React.Component {
         <KubectlBinaries preferences={preferences}/>
 
         <h2><Trans>Helm</Trans></h2>
-        <Select
+        <Select id="HelmRepoSelect"
           placeholder={<Trans>Repositories</Trans>}
           isLoading={this.helmLoading}
           isDisabled={this.helmLoading}