diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7b63da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+"""
+``tractor`` testing!!
+"""
+import pytest
+import tractor
+
+
+def pytest_addoption(parser):
+    parser.addoption("--ll", action="store", dest='loglevel',
+                     default=None, help="logging level to set when testing")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope='session', autouse=True)
+def loglevel(request):
+    orig = tractor._default_loglevel
+    level = tractor._default_loglevel = request.config.option.loglevel
+    yield level
+    tractor._default_loglevel = orig