diff --git a/crates/sui-core/src/authority.rs b/crates/sui-core/src/authority.rs
index f5d648a9a7d51..5b5c7d23fdd67 100644
--- a/crates/sui-core/src/authority.rs
+++ b/crates/sui-core/src/authority.rs
@@ -2234,13 +2234,6 @@ impl AuthorityState {
             .expect("Cannot insert genesis object")
     }
 
-    pub async fn insert_genesis_objects_bulk_unsafe(&self, objects: &[&Object]) {
-        self.database
-            .bulk_object_insert(objects)
-            .await
-            .expect("Cannot bulk insert genesis objects")
-    }
-
     /// Make an information response for a transaction
     pub async fn make_transaction_info(
         &self,
diff --git a/crates/sui-core/src/authority/authority_store.rs b/crates/sui-core/src/authority/authority_store.rs
index 487c04beca421..e13fba0f3acf3 100644
--- a/crates/sui-core/src/authority/authority_store.rs
+++ b/crates/sui-core/src/authority/authority_store.rs
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ impl AuthorityStore {
     /// Insert an object directly into the store, and also update relevant tables
     /// NOTE: does not handle transaction lock.
     /// This is used to insert genesis objects
-    pub async fn insert_object_direct(&self, object_ref: ObjectRef, object: &Object) -> SuiResult {
+    async fn insert_object_direct(&self, object_ref: ObjectRef, object: &Object) -> SuiResult {
         let mut write_batch = self.perpetual_tables.objects.batch();
 
         // Insert object
@@ -532,10 +532,8 @@ impl AuthorityStore {
         Ok(())
     }
 
-    /// This function is used by the bench.rs script, and should not be used in other contexts
-    /// In particular it does not check the old locks before inserting new ones, so the objects
-    /// must be new.
-    pub async fn bulk_object_insert(&self, objects: &[&Object]) -> SuiResult<()> {
+    /// This function should only be used for initializing genesis and should remain private.
+    async fn bulk_object_insert(&self, objects: &[&Object]) -> SuiResult<()> {
         let mut batch = self.perpetual_tables.objects.batch();
         let ref_and_objects: Vec<_> = objects
             .iter()
diff --git a/crates/sui-core/src/unit_tests/pay_sui_tests.rs b/crates/sui-core/src/unit_tests/pay_sui_tests.rs
index d1b80ee596262..5bc16880480d2 100644
--- a/crates/sui-core/src/unit_tests/pay_sui_tests.rs
+++ b/crates/sui-core/src/unit_tests/pay_sui_tests.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 // Copyright (c) Mysten Labs, Inc.
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-use crate::authority::authority_tests::{init_state, send_and_confirm_transaction};
+use crate::authority::authority_tests::{
+    init_state, init_state_with_committee, send_and_confirm_transaction,
+};
 use crate::authority::AuthorityState;
 use futures::future::join_all;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
@@ -458,15 +460,32 @@ async fn execute_pay_all_sui(
     sender_key: AccountKeyPair,
     gas_budget: u64,
 ) -> PaySuiTransactionExecutionResult {
-    let authority_state = init_state().await;
-    authority_state
-        .insert_genesis_objects_bulk_unsafe(&input_coin_objects)
-        .await;
-
-    let input_coins: Vec<ObjectRef> = input_coin_objects
-        .iter()
-        .map(|obj| obj.compute_object_reference())
-        .collect();
+    let dir = tempfile::TempDir::new().unwrap();
+    let network_config = sui_config::builder::ConfigBuilder::new(&dir)
+        .with_objects(
+            input_coin_objects
+                .clone()
+                .into_iter()
+                .map(ToOwned::to_owned)
+                .collect(),
+        )
+        .build();
+    let genesis = network_config.genesis;
+    let keypair = network_config.validator_configs[0].protocol_key_pair();
+
+    let authority_state = init_state_with_committee(&genesis, keypair).await;
+
+    let mut input_coins = Vec::new();
+    for coin in input_coin_objects {
+        let id = coin.id();
+        let object_ref = genesis
+            .objects()
+            .iter()
+            .find(|o| o.id() == id)
+            .unwrap()
+            .compute_object_reference();
+        input_coins.push(object_ref);
+    }
     let gas_object_ref = input_coins[0];
 
     let kind = TransactionKind::Single(SingleTransactionKind::PayAllSui(PayAllSui {