diff --git a/moto/sns/__init__.py b/moto/sns/__init__.py
index 45fdc48d7..e3dbba6e3 100644
--- a/moto/sns/__init__.py
+++ b/moto/sns/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 from .models import sns_backends
 from ..core.models import base_decorator
 
-sns_backend = sns_backends["us-east-1"]
 mock_sns = base_decorator(sns_backends)
diff --git a/moto/sns/models.py b/moto/sns/models.py
index 9f4f700c4..eef87b76b 100644
--- a/moto/sns/models.py
+++ b/moto/sns/models.py
@@ -415,7 +415,8 @@ class SNSBackend(BaseBackend):
 
     .. sourcecode:: python
 
-        from moto.sns import sns_backend
+        from moto.sns import sns_backends
+        sns_backend = sns_backends["us-east-1"]  # Use the appropriate region
         all_send_notifications = sns_backend.topics[topic_arn].sent_notifications
 
     Note that, as this is an internal API, the exact format may differ per versions.
diff --git a/moto/sqs/__init__.py b/moto/sqs/__init__.py
index 4a9293103..5ea59d91b 100644
--- a/moto/sqs/__init__.py
+++ b/moto/sqs/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 from .models import sqs_backends
 from ..core.models import base_decorator
 
-sqs_backend = sqs_backends["us-east-1"]
 mock_sqs = base_decorator(sqs_backends)
diff --git a/moto/swf/__init__.py b/moto/swf/__init__.py
index fa39f9d74..b6b843ed8 100644
--- a/moto/swf/__init__.py
+++ b/moto/swf/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 from .models import swf_backends
 from ..core.models import base_decorator
 
-swf_backend = swf_backends["us-east-1"]
 mock_swf = base_decorator(swf_backends)
diff --git a/tests/test_sns/test_publishing_boto3.py b/tests/test_sns/test_publishing_boto3.py
index fde6f8a71..bc979329d 100644
--- a/tests/test_sns/test_publishing_boto3.py
+++ b/tests/test_sns/test_publishing_boto3.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import pytest
 from moto import mock_sns, mock_sqs, settings
 from moto.core import ACCOUNT_ID
 from moto.core.models import responses_mock
-from moto.sns import sns_backend
+from moto.sns import sns_backends
 
 MESSAGE_FROM_SQS_TEMPLATE = (
     '{\n  "Message": "%s",\n  "MessageId": "%s",\n  "Signature": "EXAMPLElDMXvB8r9R83tGoNn0ecwd5UjllzsvSvbItzfaMpN2nk5HVSw7XnOn/49IkxDKz8YrlH2qJXj2iZB0Zo2O71c4qQk1fMUDi3LGpij7RCW7AW9vYYsSqIKRnFS94ilu7NFhUzLiieYr4BKHpdTmdD6c0esKEYBpabxDSc=",\n  "SignatureVersion": "1",\n  "SigningCertURL": "https://sns.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/SimpleNotificationService-f3ecfb7224c7233fe7bb5f59f96de52f.pem",\n  "Subject": "my subject",\n  "Timestamp": "2015-01-01T12:00:00.000Z",\n  "TopicArn": "arn:aws:sns:%s:'
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ def test_publish_sms():
 
     result.should.contain("MessageId")
     if not settings.TEST_SERVER_MODE:
+        sns_backend = sns_backends["us-east-1"]
         sns_backend.sms_messages.should.have.key(result["MessageId"]).being.equal(
             ("+15551234567", "my message")
         )
@@ -420,6 +421,7 @@ def test_publish_to_http():
     conn.publish(TopicArn=topic_arn, Message="my message", Subject="my subject")
 
     if not settings.TEST_SERVER_MODE:
+        sns_backend = sns_backends["us-east-1"]
         sns_backend.topics[topic_arn].sent_notifications.should.have.length_of(1)
         notification = sns_backend.topics[topic_arn].sent_notifications[0]
         _, msg, subject, _, _ = notification