diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 1a065bf..70a1573 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 /plugins/.libs/
 /plugins/Makefile
 /plugins/Makefile.in
+/python-api/reports/
 /stamp-h1
 /tools/.deps/
 /tools/Makefile
diff --git a/python-api/Makefile b/python-api/Makefile
index 550077c..3ece6e7 100644
--- a/python-api/Makefile
+++ b/python-api/Makefile
@@ -4,3 +4,13 @@ lint:
 	-pylint --rcfile=.pylintrc gstswitch
 	mv -f *.html reports/pylint
 	@echo "Lint report generated in reports/lint_report.html"
+
+# runs py.test also
+coverage:
+	mkdir -p reports
+	mkdir -p reports/coverage
+	-py.test --cov-report html --cov gstswitch gstswitch
+	mv htmlcov/*.* reports/coverage
+	rmdir htmlcov
+	rm *.data
+