diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c87077b..e684cda 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -20,11 +20,32 @@
 #    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 #    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 #    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
-# END OF COPYRIGHT #
 
-
-from distutils.core import setup
+import os
+from distutils.core import setup, Command
 import offlineimap
+import logging
+from test.OLItest import OLITextTestRunner, TestLoader, OLITestLib
+
+class TestCommand(Command):
+    """runs the OLI testsuite"""
+    description = "Runs the test suite"
+    user_options = []
+
+    def initialize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def finalize_options(self):
+        pass
+
+    def run(self):
+        logging.basicConfig(format='%(message)s')
+        # set credentials and OfflineImap command to be executed:
+        OLITestLib(cred_file='./test/credentials.conf', cmd='./offlineimap.py')
+        suite = TestLoader().discover('./test/tests')
+        #TODO: failfast does not seem to exist in python2.6?
+        OLITextTestRunner(verbosity=2,failfast=True).run(suite)
+
 
 setup(name = "offlineimap",
       version = offlineimap.__version__,
@@ -36,6 +57,7 @@ setup(name = "offlineimap",
                   'offlineimap.repository', 'offlineimap.ui'],
       scripts = ['bin/offlineimap'],
       license = offlineimap.__copyright__ + \
-                ", Licensed under the GPL version 2"
+                ", Licensed under the GPL version 2",
+      cmdclass = { 'test': TestCommand}
 )
 
diff --git a/test/README b/test/README
index 3bf6694..a02e3b9 100644
--- a/test/README
+++ b/test/README
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ How to run the tests
   will change the account and upload/delete/modify it's contents and
   folder structure. So don't use a real used account here...
 
-- Execute './test'
+- go to the top level dir (one above this one) and execute:
+  'python setup.py test'
 
 System requirements
 ===================
diff --git a/test/test b/test/test
deleted file mode 100755
index 1394058..0000000
--- a/test/test
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python
-import logging
-from OLItest import OLITextTestRunner, TestLoader, OLITestLib
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    logging.basicConfig(format='%(message)s')
-    # set credentials and OfflineImap command to be executed:
-    OLITestLib(cred_file='./credentials.conf', cmd='../offlineimap.py')
-    suite = TestLoader().discover('./tests')
-    OLITextTestRunner(verbosity=2).run(suite)
diff --git a/test/tests/test_01_basic.py b/test/tests/test_01_basic.py
index 7f30052..cb6d293 100644
--- a/test/tests/test_01_basic.py
+++ b/test/tests/test_01_basic.py
@@ -17,11 +17,7 @@ import random
 import unittest
 import logging
 import os, sys
-# Insert ".." into the python search path to get OLItest
-cmd_folder = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
-if cmd_folder not in sys.path:
-     sys.path.insert(0, cmd_folder)
-from OLItest import OLITestLib
+from test.OLItest import OLITestLib
 
 def setUpModule():
     logging.info("Set Up test module %s" % __name__)