diff --git a/base/pkg.jl b/base/pkg.jl
index 80334f7dda710..491abe1d3f18d 100644
--- a/base/pkg.jl
+++ b/base/pkg.jl
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ module Pkg
 
 export Git, Dir, GitHub, Types, Reqs, Cache, Read, Query, Resolve, Write, Generate, Entry
 export dir, init, rm, add, available, installed, status, clone, checkout,
-       release, fix, update, resolve, register, tag, publish, generate
+       release, fix, update, resolve, register, tag, publish, generate, test
 
 const DEFAULT_META = "git://github.com/JuliaLang/METADATA.jl"
 const META_BRANCH = "metadata-v2"
@@ -62,6 +62,10 @@ build(pkgs::String...) = cd(Entry.build,[pkgs...])
 generate(pkg::String, license::String; force::Bool=false) =
 	cd(Generate.package,pkg,license,force=force)
 
+
+test() = cd(Entry.test)
+test(pkgs::String...) = cd(Entry.test,String[pkgs...])
+
 @deprecate release free
 @deprecate fixup build
 @deprecate fix pin
diff --git a/base/pkg/entry.jl b/base/pkg/entry.jl
index 67da7c1d84e93..3c930462a6ae8 100644
--- a/base/pkg/entry.jl
+++ b/base/pkg/entry.jl
@@ -663,4 +663,50 @@ function updatehook(pkgs::Vector)
     """)
 end
 
+@windows_only const JULIA = joinpath(JULIA_HOME, ENV["JULIA_EXE"])
+@unix_only const JULIA = joinpath(JULIA_HOME, "julia-readline")
+
+function test!(pkg::String, errs::Vector{String}, notests::Vector{String})
+    const reqs_path = abspath(pkg,"test","REQUIRE")
+    if isfile(reqs_path)
+        const tests_require = Reqs.parse(reqs_path)
+        if (!isempty(tests_require))
+            info("Computing test dependencies for $pkg...")
+            resolve(tests_require)
+        end
+    end
+    const test_path = abspath(pkg,"test","runtests.jl")
+    if isfile(test_path)
+        info("Testing $pkg")
+        cd(dirname(test_path)) do
+            try
+                run(`$JULIA $test_path`)
+                info("$pkg tests passed")
+            catch err
+                warnbanner(err, label="[ ERROR: $pkg ]")
+                push!(errs,pkg)
+            end
+        end
+    else
+        push!(notests,pkg)
+    end
+    resolve()
+end
+
+function test(pkgs::Vector{String})
+    errs = String[]
+    notests = String[]
+    for pkg in pkgs
+        test!(pkg,errs,notests)
+    end
+    if !isempty(errs) || !isempty(notests)
+        messages = String[]
+        isempty(errs) || push!(messages, "$(join(errs,", "," and ")) had test errors")
+        isempty(notests) || push!(messages, "$(join(notests,", "," and ")) did not provide a test/runtests.jl file")
+        error(join(messages, "and"))
+    end
+end
+
+test() = test(sort!(String[keys(installed())...]))
+
 end # module
diff --git a/doc/stdlib/pkg.rst b/doc/stdlib/pkg.rst
index 47463cce32565..0a56858559f14 100644
--- a/doc/stdlib/pkg.rst
+++ b/doc/stdlib/pkg.rst
@@ -131,3 +131,11 @@ to use them, you'll need to prefix each function call with an explicit ``Pkg.``,
 
    For each new package version tagged in ``METADATA`` not already published, make sure that the tagged package commits have been pushed to the repo at the registered URL for the package and if they all have, push ``METADATA``.
 
+.. function:: test()
+
+   Run the tests for all installed packages ensuring that each package's test dependencies are installed for the duration of the test. A package is tested by running its ``test/runtests.jl`` file and test dependencies are specified in ``test/REQUIRE``.
+
+.. function:: test(pkgs...)
+
+   Run the tests for each package in ``pkgs`` ensuring that each package's test dependencies are installed for the duration of the test. A package is tested by running its ``test/runtests.jl`` file and test dependencies are specified in ``test/REQUIRE``.
+
diff --git a/test/pkg.jl b/test/pkg.jl
index 428502675a5e1..4b8316dee0d6d 100644
--- a/test/pkg.jl
+++ b/test/pkg.jl
@@ -1,15 +1,79 @@
-ENV["JULIA_PKGDIR"] = string("tmp.",randstring())
-@test !isdir(Pkg.dir())
-try # ensure directory removal
-	Pkg.init()
-	@test isdir(Pkg.dir())
-	Pkg.resolve()
-
-	@test isempty(Pkg.installed())
-	Pkg.add("Example")
-	@test [keys(Pkg.installed())...] == ["Example"]
-	Pkg.rm("Example")
-	@test isempty(Pkg.installed())
-finally
-	run(`rm -rf $(Pkg.dir())`)
+function temp_pkg_dir(fn::Function)
+  # Used in tests below to setup and teardown a sandboxed package directory
+  const tmpdir = ENV["JULIA_PKGDIR"] = abspath(string("tmp.",randstring()))
+  @test !isdir(Pkg.dir())
+  try
+    Pkg.init()
+    @test isdir(Pkg.dir())
+    Pkg.resolve()
+
+    fn()
+  finally
+    run(`rm -rf $tmpdir`)
+  end
+end
+
+# Test adding a removing a package
+temp_pkg_dir() do
+  @test isempty(Pkg.installed())
+  Pkg.add("Example")
+  @test [keys(Pkg.installed())...] == ["Example"]
+  Pkg.rm("Example")
+  @test isempty(Pkg.installed())
+end
+
+# testing a package with test dependencies causes them to be installed for the duration of the test
+temp_pkg_dir() do
+  Pkg.generate("PackageWithTestDependencies", "MIT")
+  @test [keys(Pkg.installed())...] == ["PackageWithTestDependencies"]
+
+  isdir(Pkg.dir("PackageWithTestDependencies","test")) || mkdir(Pkg.dir("PackageWithTestDependencies","test"))
+  open(Pkg.dir("PackageWithTestDependencies","test","REQUIRE"),"w") do f
+    println(f,"Example")
+  end
+
+  open(Pkg.dir("PackageWithTestDependencies","test","runtests.jl"),"w") do f
+    println(f,"using Base.Test")
+    println(f,"@test haskey(Pkg.installed(), \"Example\")")
+  end
+
+  Pkg.resolve()
+  @test [keys(Pkg.installed())...] == ["PackageWithTestDependencies"]
+
+  Pkg.test("PackageWithTestDependencies")
+
+  @test [keys(Pkg.installed())...] == ["PackageWithTestDependencies"]
 end
+
+# testing a package with no runtests.jl errors
+temp_pkg_dir() do
+  Pkg.generate("PackageWithNoTests", "MIT")
+
+  if isfile(Pkg.dir("PackageWithNoTests", "test", "runtests.jl"))
+    rm(Pkg.dir("PackageWithNoTests", "test", "runtests.jl"))
+  end
+
+  try
+    Pkg.test("PackageWithNoTests")
+  catch err
+    @test err.msg == "PackageWithNoTests did not provide a test/runtests.jl file"
+  end
+end
+
+# testing a package with failing tests errors
+temp_pkg_dir() do
+  Pkg.generate("PackageWithFailingTests", "MIT")
+
+  isdir(Pkg.dir("PackageWithFailingTests","test")) || mkdir(Pkg.dir("PackageWithFailingTests","test"))
+  open(Pkg.dir("PackageWithFailingTests", "test", "runtests.jl"),"w") do f
+    println(f,"using Base.Test")
+    println(f,"@test false")
+  end
+
+  try
+    Pkg.test("PackageWithFailingTests")
+  catch err
+    @test err.msg == "PackageWithFailingTests had test errors"
+  end
+end
+