diff --git a/docs/pip_sphinxext.py b/docs/pip_sphinxext.py
index b250be47f97..c34c457e394 100644
--- a/docs/pip_sphinxext.py
+++ b/docs/pip_sphinxext.py
@@ -9,14 +9,14 @@
 from docutils.statemachine import ViewList
 
 from pip._internal.cli import cmdoptions
-from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict as commands
+from pip._internal.commands import create_command
 
 
 class PipCommandUsage(rst.Directive):
     required_arguments = 1
 
     def run(self):
-        cmd = commands[self.arguments[0]]
+        cmd = create_command(self.arguments[0])
         usage = dedent(
             cmd.usage.replace('%prog', 'pip {}'.format(cmd.name))
         ).strip()
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ def run(self):
         node = nodes.paragraph()
         node.document = self.state.document
         desc = ViewList()
-        description = dedent(commands[self.arguments[0]].__doc__)
+        cmd = create_command(self.arguments[0])
+        description = dedent(cmd.__doc__)
         for line in description.split('\n'):
             desc.append(line, "")
         self.state.nested_parse(desc, 0, node)
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ class PipCommandOptions(PipOptions):
     required_arguments = 1
 
     def process_options(self):
-        cmd = commands[self.arguments[0]]()
+        cmd = create_command(self.arguments[0])
         self._format_options(
             cmd.parser.option_groups[0].option_list,
             cmd_name=cmd.name,
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/__init__.py b/src/pip/_internal/__init__.py
index fbadc28ac21..bb8f0ff8705 100755
--- a/src/pip/_internal/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/__init__.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
 
 from pip._internal.cli.autocompletion import autocomplete
 from pip._internal.cli.main_parser import parse_command
-from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict
+from pip._internal.commands import create_command
 from pip._internal.exceptions import PipError
 from pip._internal.utils import deprecation
 from pip._vendor.urllib3.exceptions import InsecureRequestWarning
@@ -73,5 +73,6 @@ def main(args=None):
     except locale.Error as e:
         # setlocale can apparently crash if locale are uninitialized
         logger.debug("Ignoring error %s when setting locale", e)
-    command = commands_dict[cmd_name](isolated=("--isolated" in cmd_args))
+    command = create_command(cmd_name, isolated=("--isolated" in cmd_args))
+
     return command.main(cmd_args)
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/cli/autocompletion.py b/src/pip/_internal/cli/autocompletion.py
index 0a04199e6dc..287e62c78a5 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/cli/autocompletion.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/cli/autocompletion.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import sys
 
 from pip._internal.cli.main_parser import create_main_parser
-from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict, get_summaries
+from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict, create_command
 from pip._internal.utils.misc import get_installed_distributions
 
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ def autocomplete():
     except IndexError:
         current = ''
 
-    subcommands = [cmd for cmd, summary in get_summaries()]
+    subcommands = list(commands_dict)
     options = []
     # subcommand
     try:
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def autocomplete():
                     print(dist)
                 sys.exit(1)
 
-        subcommand = commands_dict[subcommand_name]()
+        subcommand = create_command(subcommand_name)
 
         for opt in subcommand.parser.option_list_all:
             if opt.help != optparse.SUPPRESS_HELP:
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/cli/base_command.py b/src/pip/_internal/cli/base_command.py
index 177524804fb..fd771b1412c 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/cli/base_command.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/cli/base_command.py
@@ -61,18 +61,20 @@ class Command(object):
     usage = None  # type: Optional[str]
     ignore_require_venv = False  # type: bool
 
-    def __init__(self, isolated=False):
-        # type: (bool) -> None
+    def __init__(self, name, summary, isolated=False):
+        # type: (str, str, bool) -> None
         parser_kw = {
             'usage': self.usage,
             'prog': '%s %s' % (get_prog(), self.name),
             'formatter': UpdatingDefaultsHelpFormatter(),
             'add_help_option': False,
-            'name': self.name,
+            'name': name,
             'description': self.__doc__,
             'isolated': isolated,
         }
 
+        self.name = name
+        self.summary = summary
         self.parser = ConfigOptionParser(**parser_kw)
 
         # Commands should add options to this option group
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/cli/main_parser.py b/src/pip/_internal/cli/main_parser.py
index 1c371ca3b56..a89821d4489 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/cli/main_parser.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/cli/main_parser.py
@@ -9,11 +9,7 @@
     ConfigOptionParser,
     UpdatingDefaultsHelpFormatter,
 )
-from pip._internal.commands import (
-    commands_dict,
-    get_similar_commands,
-    get_summaries,
-)
+from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict, get_similar_commands
 from pip._internal.exceptions import CommandError
 from pip._internal.utils.misc import get_pip_version, get_prog
 from pip._internal.utils.typing import MYPY_CHECK_RUNNING
@@ -51,8 +47,10 @@ def create_main_parser():
     parser.main = True  # type: ignore
 
     # create command listing for description
-    command_summaries = get_summaries()
-    description = [''] + ['%-27s %s' % (i, j) for i, j in command_summaries]
+    description = [''] + [
+        '%-27s %s' % (name, command_info.summary)
+        for name, command_info in commands_dict.items()
+    ]
     parser.description = '\n'.join(description)
 
     return parser
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/__init__.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/__init__.py
index 9e0ab86b9ca..a5d454192d6 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/__init__.py
@@ -3,57 +3,97 @@
 """
 from __future__ import absolute_import
 
-from pip._internal.commands.completion import CompletionCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.configuration import ConfigurationCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.debug import DebugCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.download import DownloadCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.freeze import FreezeCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.hash import HashCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.help import HelpCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.list import ListCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.check import CheckCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.search import SearchCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.show import ShowCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.install import InstallCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.uninstall import UninstallCommand
-from pip._internal.commands.wheel import WheelCommand
+import importlib
+from collections import namedtuple, OrderedDict
 
 from pip._internal.utils.typing import MYPY_CHECK_RUNNING
 
 if MYPY_CHECK_RUNNING:
-    from typing import List, Type
+    from typing import Any
     from pip._internal.cli.base_command import Command
 
-commands_order = [
-    InstallCommand,
-    DownloadCommand,
-    UninstallCommand,
-    FreezeCommand,
-    ListCommand,
-    ShowCommand,
-    CheckCommand,
-    ConfigurationCommand,
-    SearchCommand,
-    WheelCommand,
-    HashCommand,
-    CompletionCommand,
-    DebugCommand,
-    HelpCommand,
-]  # type: List[Type[Command]]
 
-commands_dict = {c.name: c for c in commands_order}
-
-
-def get_summaries(ordered=True):
-    """Yields sorted (command name, command summary) tuples."""
-
-    if ordered:
-        cmditems = _sort_commands(commands_dict, commands_order)
-    else:
-        cmditems = commands_dict.items()
-
-    for name, command_class in cmditems:
-        yield (name, command_class.summary)
+CommandInfo = namedtuple('CommandInfo', 'module_path, class_name, summary')
+
+# The ordering matters for help display.
+#    Also, even though the module path starts with the same
+# "pip._internal.commands" prefix in each case, we include the full path
+# because it makes testing easier (specifically when modifying commands_dict
+# in test setup / teardown by adding info for a FakeCommand class defined
+# in a test-related module).
+#    Finally, we need to pass an iterable of pairs here rather than a dict
+# so that the ordering won't be lost when using Python 2.7.
+commands_dict = OrderedDict([
+    ('install', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.install', 'InstallCommand',
+        'Install packages.',
+    )),
+    ('download', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.download', 'DownloadCommand',
+        'Download packages.',
+    )),
+    ('uninstall', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.uninstall', 'UninstallCommand',
+        'Uninstall packages.',
+    )),
+    ('freeze', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.freeze', 'FreezeCommand',
+        'Output installed packages in requirements format.',
+    )),
+    ('list', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.list', 'ListCommand',
+        'List installed packages.',
+    )),
+    ('show', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.show', 'ShowCommand',
+        'Show information about installed packages.',
+    )),
+    ('check', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.check', 'CheckCommand',
+        'Verify installed packages have compatible dependencies.',
+    )),
+    ('config', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.configuration', 'ConfigurationCommand',
+        'Manage local and global configuration.',
+    )),
+    ('search', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.search', 'SearchCommand',
+        'Search PyPI for packages.',
+    )),
+    ('wheel', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.wheel', 'WheelCommand',
+        'Build wheels from your requirements.',
+    )),
+    ('hash', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.hash', 'HashCommand',
+        'Compute hashes of package archives.',
+    )),
+    ('completion', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.completion', 'CompletionCommand',
+        'A helper command used for command completion.',
+    )),
+    ('debug', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.debug', 'DebugCommand',
+        'Show information useful for debugging.',
+    )),
+    ('help', CommandInfo(
+        'pip._internal.commands.help', 'HelpCommand',
+        'Show help for commands.',
+    )),
+])  # type: OrderedDict[str, CommandInfo]
+
+
+def create_command(name, **kwargs):
+    # type: (str, **Any) -> Command
+    """
+    Create an instance of the Command class with the given name.
+    """
+    module_path, class_name, summary = commands_dict[name]
+    module = importlib.import_module(module_path)
+    command_class = getattr(module, class_name)
+    command = command_class(name=name, summary=summary, **kwargs)
+
+    return command
 
 
 def get_similar_commands(name):
@@ -68,14 +108,3 @@ def get_similar_commands(name):
         return close_commands[0]
     else:
         return False
-
-
-def _sort_commands(cmddict, order):
-    def keyfn(key):
-        try:
-            return order.index(key[1])
-        except ValueError:
-            # unordered items should come last
-            return 0xff
-
-    return sorted(cmddict.items(), key=keyfn)
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/check.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/check.py
index 865285b5065..88dff795a1d 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/check.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/check.py
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@
 
 class CheckCommand(Command):
     """Verify installed packages have compatible dependencies."""
-    name = 'check'
+
     usage = """
       %prog [options]"""
-    summary = 'Verify installed packages have compatible dependencies.'
 
     def run(self, options, args):
         package_set, parsing_probs = create_package_set_from_installed()
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/completion.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/completion.py
index 2fcdd393ed6..6c37162813c 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/completion.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/completion.py
@@ -47,8 +47,7 @@
 
 class CompletionCommand(Command):
     """A helper command to be used for command completion."""
-    name = 'completion'
-    summary = 'A helper command used for command completion.'
+
     ignore_require_venv = True
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/configuration.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/configuration.py
index 91f916e85ac..31b93d96b17 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/configuration.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/configuration.py
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ class ConfigurationCommand(Command):
         default.
     """
 
-    name = 'config'
     usage = """
         %prog [<file-option>] list
         %prog [<file-option>] [--editor <editor-path>] edit
@@ -44,8 +43,6 @@ class ConfigurationCommand(Command):
         %prog [<file-option>] unset name
     """
 
-    summary = "Manage local and global configuration."
-
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super(ConfigurationCommand, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py
index eb4f8c4e6fc..df31c83bf51 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/debug.py
@@ -77,10 +77,8 @@ class DebugCommand(Command):
     Display debug information.
     """
 
-    name = 'debug'
     usage = """
       %prog <options>"""
-    summary = 'Show information useful for debugging.'
     ignore_require_venv = True
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/download.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/download.py
index 5642b561758..2bb27f876ad 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/download.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/download.py
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ class DownloadCommand(RequirementCommand):
     pip also supports downloading from "requirements files", which provide
     an easy way to specify a whole environment to be downloaded.
     """
-    name = 'download'
 
     usage = """
       %prog [options] <requirement specifier> [package-index-options] ...
@@ -38,8 +37,6 @@ class DownloadCommand(RequirementCommand):
       %prog [options] <local project path> ...
       %prog [options] <archive url/path> ..."""
 
-    summary = 'Download packages.'
-
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
         super(DownloadCommand, self).__init__(*args, **kw)
 
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py
index 9fc5b04693c..112a380439d 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py
@@ -18,10 +18,9 @@ class FreezeCommand(Command):
 
     packages are listed in a case-insensitive sorted order.
     """
-    name = 'freeze'
+
     usage = """
       %prog [options]"""
-    summary = 'Output installed packages in requirements format.'
     log_streams = ("ext://sys.stderr", "ext://sys.stderr")
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/hash.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/hash.py
index 423440e9c29..87b09f071e1 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/hash.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/hash.py
@@ -18,11 +18,9 @@ class HashCommand(Command):
 
     These can be used with --hash in a requirements file to do repeatable
     installs.
-
     """
-    name = 'hash'
+
     usage = '%prog [options] <file> ...'
-    summary = 'Compute hashes of package archives.'
     ignore_require_venv = True
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/help.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/help.py
index 49a81cbb074..270e82b28c6 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/help.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/help.py
@@ -7,14 +7,15 @@
 
 class HelpCommand(Command):
     """Show help for commands"""
-    name = 'help'
+
     usage = """
       %prog <command>"""
-    summary = 'Show help for commands.'
     ignore_require_venv = True
 
     def run(self, options, args):
-        from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict, get_similar_commands
+        from pip._internal.commands import (
+            commands_dict, create_command, get_similar_commands,
+        )
 
         try:
             # 'pip help' with no args is handled by pip.__init__.parseopt()
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ def run(self, options, args):
 
             raise CommandError(' - '.join(msg))
 
-        command = commands_dict[cmd_name]()
+        command = create_command(cmd_name)
         command.parser.print_help()
 
         return SUCCESS
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py
index 927e7817be2..b18bbd45172 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/install.py
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ class InstallCommand(RequirementCommand):
     pip also supports installing from "requirements files," which provide
     an easy way to specify a whole environment to be installed.
     """
-    name = 'install'
 
     usage = """
       %prog [options] <requirement specifier> [package-index-options] ...
@@ -96,8 +95,6 @@ class InstallCommand(RequirementCommand):
       %prog [options] [-e] <local project path> ...
       %prog [options] <archive url/path> ..."""
 
-    summary = 'Install packages.'
-
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
         super(InstallCommand, self).__init__(*args, **kw)
 
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py
index ea7f5eb9c44..2fd39097c12 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/list.py
@@ -27,10 +27,9 @@ class ListCommand(Command):
 
     Packages are listed in a case-insensitive sorted order.
     """
-    name = 'list'
+
     usage = """
       %prog [options]"""
-    summary = 'List installed packages.'
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
         super(ListCommand, self).__init__(*args, **kw)
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/search.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/search.py
index 58027112402..c96f0b90423 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/search.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/search.py
@@ -24,10 +24,9 @@
 
 class SearchCommand(Command):
     """Search for PyPI packages whose name or summary contains <query>."""
-    name = 'search'
+
     usage = """
       %prog [options] <query>"""
-    summary = 'Search PyPI for packages.'
     ignore_require_venv = True
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/show.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/show.py
index a18a9020c41..bacd002ae51 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/show.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/show.py
@@ -19,10 +19,9 @@ class ShowCommand(Command):
 
     The output is in RFC-compliant mail header format.
     """
-    name = 'show'
+
     usage = """
       %prog [options] <package> ..."""
-    summary = 'Show information about installed packages.'
     ignore_require_venv = True
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/uninstall.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/uninstall.py
index 0cd6f54bd86..ede23083857 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/uninstall.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/uninstall.py
@@ -19,11 +19,10 @@ class UninstallCommand(Command):
       leave behind no metadata to determine what files were installed.
     - Script wrappers installed by ``python setup.py develop``.
     """
-    name = 'uninstall'
+
     usage = """
       %prog [options] <package> ...
       %prog [options] -r <requirements file> ..."""
-    summary = 'Uninstall packages.'
 
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
         super(UninstallCommand, self).__init__(*args, **kw)
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/commands/wheel.py b/src/pip/_internal/commands/wheel.py
index 97f3b148af5..a246db65579 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/commands/wheel.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/commands/wheel.py
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ class WheelCommand(RequirementCommand):
 
     """
 
-    name = 'wheel'
     usage = """
       %prog [options] <requirement specifier> ...
       %prog [options] -r <requirements file> ...
@@ -41,8 +40,6 @@ class WheelCommand(RequirementCommand):
       %prog [options] [-e] <local project path> ...
       %prog [options] <archive url/path> ..."""
 
-    summary = 'Build wheels from your requirements.'
-
     def __init__(self, *args, **kw):
         super(WheelCommand, self).__init__(*args, **kw)
 
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_help.py b/tests/functional/test_help.py
index 9e3dbcde8c9..1d1e439cf63 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_help.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_help.py
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 from mock import Mock
 
 from pip._internal.cli.base_command import ERROR, SUCCESS
-from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict as commands
-from pip._internal.commands.help import HelpCommand
+from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict, create_command
 from pip._internal.exceptions import CommandError
 
 
@@ -13,7 +12,7 @@ def test_run_method_should_return_success_when_finds_command_name():
     """
     options_mock = Mock()
     args = ('freeze',)
-    help_cmd = HelpCommand()
+    help_cmd = create_command('help')
     status = help_cmd.run(options_mock, args)
     assert status == SUCCESS
 
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ def test_run_method_should_return_success_when_command_name_not_specified():
     """
     options_mock = Mock()
     args = ()
-    help_cmd = HelpCommand()
+    help_cmd = create_command('help')
     status = help_cmd.run(options_mock, args)
     assert status == SUCCESS
 
@@ -35,7 +34,7 @@ def test_run_method_should_raise_command_error_when_command_does_not_exist():
     """
     options_mock = Mock()
     args = ('mycommand',)
-    help_cmd = HelpCommand()
+    help_cmd = create_command('help')
 
     with pytest.raises(CommandError):
         help_cmd.run(options_mock, args)
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ def test_help_commands_equally_functional(in_memory_pip):
     assert sum(ret) == 0, 'exit codes of: ' + msg
     assert all(len(o) > 0 for o in out)
 
-    for name, cls in commands.items():
+    for name in commands_dict:
         assert (
             in_memory_pip.pip('help', name).stdout ==
             in_memory_pip.pip(name, '--help').stdout != ""
diff --git a/tests/functional/test_search.py b/tests/functional/test_search.py
index ea438a8bb09..70421de3091 100644
--- a/tests/functional/test_search.py
+++ b/tests/functional/test_search.py
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 import pytest
 
 from pip._internal.cli.status_codes import NO_MATCHES_FOUND, SUCCESS
+from pip._internal.commands import create_command
 from pip._internal.commands.search import (
-    SearchCommand,
     highest_version,
     print_results,
     transform_hits,
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ def test_run_method_should_return_success_when_find_packages():
     """
     Test SearchCommand.run for found package
     """
-    command = SearchCommand()
+    command = create_command('search')
     cmdline = "--index=https://pypi.org/pypi pip"
     options, args = command.parse_args(cmdline.split())
     status = command.run(options, args)
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ def test_run_method_should_return_no_matches_found_when_does_not_find_pkgs():
     """
     Test SearchCommand.run for no matches
     """
-    command = SearchCommand()
+    command = create_command('search')
     cmdline = "--index=https://pypi.org/pypi nonexistentpackage"
     options, args = command.parse_args(cmdline.split())
     status = command.run(options, args)
diff --git a/tests/lib/options_helpers.py b/tests/lib/options_helpers.py
index a93c40e3aea..120070abb99 100644
--- a/tests/lib/options_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/lib/options_helpers.py
@@ -5,13 +5,11 @@
 
 from pip._internal.cli import cmdoptions
 from pip._internal.cli.base_command import Command
-from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict
+from pip._internal.commands import CommandInfo, commands_dict
 from tests.lib.configuration_helpers import reset_os_environ
 
 
 class FakeCommand(Command):
-    name = 'fake'
-    summary = name
 
     def main(self, args):
         index_opts = cmdoptions.make_option_group(
@@ -26,8 +24,10 @@ class AddFakeCommandMixin(object):
 
     def setup(self):
         self.environ_before = os.environ.copy()
-        commands_dict[FakeCommand.name] = FakeCommand
+        commands_dict['fake'] = CommandInfo(
+            'tests.lib.options_helpers', 'FakeCommand', 'fake summary',
+        )
 
     def teardown(self):
         reset_os_environ(self.environ_before)
-        commands_dict.pop(FakeCommand.name)
+        commands_dict.pop('fake')
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_base_command.py b/tests/unit/test_base_command.py
index 293573ab9a4..fc6cf2b7a78 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_base_command.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_base_command.py
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@
 
 
 class FakeCommand(Command):
-    name = 'fake'
-    summary = name
+
+    _name = 'fake'
 
     def __init__(self, run_func=None, error=False):
         if error:
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def run_func():
                 raise SystemExit(1)
 
         self.run_func = run_func
-        super(FakeCommand, self).__init__()
+        super(FakeCommand, self).__init__(self._name, self._name)
 
     def main(self, args):
         args.append("--disable-pip-version-check")
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@ def run(self, options, args):
 
 
 class FakeCommandWithUnicode(FakeCommand):
-    name = 'fake_unicode'
-    summary = name
+    _name = 'fake_unicode'
 
     def run(self, options, args):
         logging.getLogger("pip.tests").info(b"bytes here \xE9")
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_commands.py b/tests/unit/test_commands.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..324e322a3f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_commands.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import pytest
+
+from pip._internal.commands import commands_dict, create_command
+
+
+def test_commands_dict__order():
+    """
+    Check the ordering of commands_dict.
+    """
+    names = list(commands_dict)
+    # A spot-check is sufficient to check that commands_dict encodes an
+    # ordering.
+    assert names[0] == 'install'
+    assert names[-1] == 'help'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('name', list(commands_dict))
+def test_create_command(name):
+    """Test creating an instance of each available command."""
+    command = create_command(name)
+    assert command.name == name
+    assert command.summary == commands_dict[name].summary
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_format_control.py b/tests/unit/test_format_control.py
index 0b376624724..0b0e2bde221 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_format_control.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_format_control.py
@@ -6,11 +6,9 @@
 
 
 class SimpleCommand(Command):
-    name = 'fake'
-    summary = name
 
     def __init__(self):
-        super(SimpleCommand, self).__init__()
+        super(SimpleCommand, self).__init__('fake', 'fake summary')
         self.cmd_opts.add_option(cmdoptions.no_binary())
         self.cmd_opts.add_option(cmdoptions.only_binary())
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_options.py b/tests/unit/test_options.py
index 0eb452ef4da..32509209869 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_options.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_options.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 import pip._internal.configuration
 from pip._internal import main
-from pip._internal.commands import ConfigurationCommand, DownloadCommand
+from pip._internal.commands import create_command
 from pip._internal.exceptions import PipError
 from tests.lib.options_helpers import AddFakeCommandMixin
 
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ class TestUsePEP517Options(object):
     def parse_args(self, args):
         # We use DownloadCommand since that is one of the few Command
         # classes with the use_pep517 options.
-        command = DownloadCommand()
+        command = create_command('download')
         options, args = command.parse_args(args)
 
         return options
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ def test_venv_config_file_found(self, monkeypatch):
         )
     )
     def test_config_file_options(self, monkeypatch, args, expect):
-        cmd = ConfigurationCommand()
+        cmd = create_command('config')
         # Replace a handler with a no-op to avoid side effects
         monkeypatch.setattr(cmd, "get_name", lambda *a: None)
 
@@ -423,7 +423,7 @@ def test_config_file_options(self, monkeypatch, args, expect):
             assert expect == cmd._determine_file(options, need_value=False)
 
     def test_config_file_venv_option(self, monkeypatch):
-        cmd = ConfigurationCommand()
+        cmd = create_command('config')
         # Replace a handler with a no-op to avoid side effects
         monkeypatch.setattr(cmd, "get_name", lambda *a: None)
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_req.py b/tests/unit/test_req.py
index 2b1428686e1..4fe71cbfde5 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_req.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_req.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from pip._vendor.packaging.markers import Marker
 from pip._vendor.packaging.requirements import Requirement
 
-from pip._internal.commands.install import InstallCommand
+from pip._internal.commands import create_command
 from pip._internal.download import PipSession
 from pip._internal.exceptions import (
     HashErrors,
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ def test_missing_hash_with_require_hashes_in_reqs_file(self, data, tmpdir):
         req_set = RequirementSet(require_hashes=False)
         finder = make_test_finder(find_links=[data.find_links])
         session = finder.session
-        command = InstallCommand()
+        command = create_command('install')
         with requirements_file('--require-hashes', tmpdir) as reqs_file:
             options, args = command.parse_args(['-r', reqs_file])
             command.populate_requirement_set(