diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index dac8232b172ce..878f7a9a915c9 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -184,6 +184,12 @@ tasks.idea.doLast {
 if (System.getProperty('idea.active') != null && ideaMarker.exists() == false) {
   throw new GradleException('You must run gradle idea from the root of elasticsearch before importing into IntelliJ')
 }
+// add buildSrc itself as a groovy project
+task buildSrcIdea(type: GradleBuild) {
+  buildFile = 'buildSrc/build.gradle'
+  tasks = ['cleanIdea', 'ideaModule']
+}
+tasks.idea.dependsOn(buildSrcIdea)
 
 
 // eclipse configuration
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/StandaloneTestBasePlugin.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/StandaloneTestBasePlugin.groovy
index 8c3b5f754cc8f..f317254cd4503 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/StandaloneTestBasePlugin.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/StandaloneTestBasePlugin.groovy
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ public class StandaloneTestBasePlugin implements Plugin<Project> {
 
         project.eclipse.classpath.sourceSets = [project.sourceSets.test]
         project.eclipse.classpath.plusConfigurations = [project.configurations.testRuntime]
+        project.idea.module.testSourceDirs += project.sourceSets.test.java.srcDirs
+        project.idea.module.scopes['TEST'] = [plus: [project.configurations.testRuntime]]
 
         PrecommitTasks.create(project, false)
         project.check.dependsOn(project.precommit)