diff --git a/doc/source/field_guide/unit_tests.rst b/doc/source/field_guide/unit_tests.rst
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..67a8b20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/source/field_guide/unit_tests.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../../tempest/tests/README.rst
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/doc/source/index.rst b/doc/source/index.rst
index 00c4e9a..f70cdd1 100644
--- a/doc/source/index.rst
+++ b/doc/source/index.rst
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
    field_guide/stress
    field_guide/thirdparty
    field_guide/whitebox
+   field_guide/unit_tests
 
 ------------------
 API and test cases
diff --git a/tempest/hacking/checks.py b/tempest/hacking/checks.py
index f9eb968..8cfd548 100644
--- a/tempest/hacking/checks.py
+++ b/tempest/hacking/checks.py
@@ -53,17 +53,6 @@
                      " in tempest/api/* tests"))
 
 
-def import_no_files_in_tests(physical_line, filename):
-    """Check for merges that try to land into tempest/tests
-
-    T103: tempest/tests directory is deprecated
-    """
-
-    if "tempest/tests" in filename:
-        return (0, ("T103: tempest/tests is deprecated"))
-
-
 def factory(register):
     register(skip_bugs)
     register(import_no_clients_in_api)
-    register(import_no_files_in_tests)
diff --git a/tempest/tests/README.rst b/tempest/tests/README.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4098686
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/README.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+Tempest Guide to Unit tests
+===========================
+
+What are these tests?
+---------------------
+
+Unit tests are the self checks for Tempest. They provide functional
+verification and regression checking for the internal components of tempest.
+They should be used to just verify that the individual pieces of tempest are
+working as expected. They should not require an external service to be running
+and should be able to run solely from the tempest tree.
+
+Why are these tests in tempest?
+-------------------------------
+These tests exist to make sure that the mechanisms that we use inside of
+tempest to are valid and remain functional. They are only here for self
+validation of tempest.
+
+
+Scope of these tests
+--------------------
+Unit tests should not require an external service to be running or any extra
+configuration to run. Any state that is required for a test should either be
+mocked out or created in a temporary test directory. (see test_wrappers.py for
+an example of using a temporary test directory)
diff --git a/tempest/tests/__init__.py b/tempest/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/__init__.py
diff --git a/tempest/tests/files/__init__.py b/tempest/tests/files/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/files/__init__.py
diff --git a/tempest/tests/files/failing-tests b/tempest/tests/files/failing-tests
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ec5421
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/files/failing-tests
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# vim: tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
+
+# Copyright 2013 IBM Corp.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+import testtools
+
+class FakeTestClass(testtools.TestCase):
+    def test_pass(self):
+        self.assertTrue(False)
+
+    def test_pass_list(self):
+        test_list = ['test', 'a', 'b']
+        self.assertIn('fail', test_list)
diff --git a/tempest/tests/files/passing-tests b/tempest/tests/files/passing-tests
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f5b7c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/files/passing-tests
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# vim: tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
+
+# Copyright 2013 IBM Corp.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+import testtools
+
+class FakeTestClass(testtools.TestCase):
+    def test_pass(self):
+        self.assertTrue(True)
+
+    def test_pass_list(self):
+        test_list = ['test', 'a', 'b']
+        self.assertIn('test', test_list)
diff --git a/tempest/tests/files/setup.cfg b/tempest/tests/files/setup.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8639baa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/files/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+[metadata]
+name = tempest_unit_tests
+version = 1
+summary = Fake Project for testing wrapper scripts
+author = OpenStack QA
+author-email = openstack-qa@lists.openstack.org
+home-page = http://www.openstack.org/
+classifier =
+    Intended Audience :: Information Technology
+    Intended Audience :: System Administrators
+    Intended Audience :: Developers
+    License :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software License
+    Operating System :: POSIX :: Linux
+    Programming Language :: Python
+    Programming Language :: Python :: 2
+    Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7
+
+[global]
+setup-hooks =
+    pbr.hooks.setup_hook
diff --git a/tempest/tests/files/testr-conf b/tempest/tests/files/testr-conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d5ad083
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/files/testr-conf
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[DEFAULT]
+test_command=${PYTHON:-python} -m subunit.run discover -t ./ ./tests $LISTOPT $IDOPTION
+test_id_option=--load-list $IDFILE
+test_list_option=--list
+group_regex=([^\.]*\.)*
diff --git a/tempest/tests/test_wrappers.py b/tempest/tests/test_wrappers.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aeea98d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tempest/tests/test_wrappers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+# vim: tabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 softtabstop=4
+
+# Copyright 2013 IBM Corp.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import tempfile
+import testtools
+
+from tempest.test import attr
+
+DEVNULL = open(os.devnull, 'wb')
+
+
+class TestWrappers(testtools.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self):
+        super(TestWrappers, self).setUp()
+        # Setup test dirs
+        self.directory = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix='tempest-unit')
+        self.test_dir = os.path.join(self.directory, 'tests')
+        os.mkdir(self.test_dir)
+        # Setup Test files
+        self.testr_conf_file = os.path.join(self.directory, '.testr.conf')
+        self.setup_cfg_file = os.path.join(self.directory, 'setup.cfg')
+        self.passing_file = os.path.join(self.test_dir, 'test_passing.py')
+        self.failing_file = os.path.join(self.test_dir, 'test_failing.py')
+        self.init_file = os.path.join(self.test_dir, '__init__.py')
+        self.setup_py = os.path.join(self.directory, 'setup.py')
+        shutil.copy('tempest/tests/files/testr-conf', self.testr_conf_file)
+        shutil.copy('tempest/tests/files/passing-tests', self.passing_file)
+        shutil.copy('tempest/tests/files/failing-tests', self.failing_file)
+        shutil.copy('setup.py', self.setup_py)
+        shutil.copy('tempest/tests/files/setup.cfg', self.setup_cfg_file)
+        shutil.copy('tempest/tests/files/__init__.py', self.init_file)
+
+    @attr(type='smoke')
+    def test_pretty_tox(self):
+        # Copy wrapper script and requirements:
+        pretty_tox = os.path.join(self.directory, 'pretty_tox.sh')
+        shutil.copy('tools/pretty_tox.sh', pretty_tox)
+        # Change directory, run wrapper and check result
+        self.addCleanup(os.chdir, os.path.abspath(os.curdir))
+        os.chdir(self.directory)
+        # Git init is required for the pbr testr command. pbr requires a git
+        # version or an sdist to work. so make the test directory a git repo
+        # too.
+        subprocess.call(['git', 'init'])
+        exit_code = subprocess.call('sh pretty_tox.sh tests.passing',
+                                    shell=True, stdout=DEVNULL, stderr=DEVNULL)
+        self.assertEquals(exit_code, 0)
+
+    @attr(type='smoke')
+    def test_pretty_tox_fails(self):
+        # Copy wrapper script and requirements:
+        pretty_tox = os.path.join(self.directory, 'pretty_tox.sh')
+        shutil.copy('tools/pretty_tox.sh', pretty_tox)
+        # Change directory, run wrapper and check result
+        self.addCleanup(os.chdir, os.path.abspath(os.curdir))
+        os.chdir(self.directory)
+        # Git init is required for the pbr testr command. pbr requires a git
+        # version or an sdist to work. so make the test directory a git repo
+        # too.
+        subprocess.call(['git', 'init'])
+        exit_code = subprocess.call('sh pretty_tox.sh', shell=True,
+                                    stdout=DEVNULL, stderr=DEVNULL)
+        self.assertEquals(exit_code, 1)
+
+    @attr(type='smoke')
+    def test_pretty_tox_serial(self):
+        # Copy wrapper script and requirements:
+        pretty_tox = os.path.join(self.directory, 'pretty_tox_serial.sh')
+        shutil.copy('tools/pretty_tox_serial.sh', pretty_tox)
+        # Change directory, run wrapper and check result
+        self.addCleanup(os.chdir, os.path.abspath(os.curdir))
+        os.chdir(self.directory)
+        exit_code = subprocess.call('sh pretty_tox_serial.sh tests.passing',
+                                    shell=True, stdout=DEVNULL, stderr=DEVNULL)
+        self.assertEquals(exit_code, 0)
+
+    @attr(type='smoke')
+    def test_pretty_tox_serial_fails(self):
+        # Copy wrapper script and requirements:
+        pretty_tox = os.path.join(self.directory, 'pretty_tox_serial.sh')
+        shutil.copy('tools/pretty_tox_serial.sh', pretty_tox)
+        # Change directory, run wrapper and check result
+        self.addCleanup(os.chdir, os.path.abspath(os.curdir))
+        os.chdir(self.directory)
+        exit_code = subprocess.call('sh pretty_tox_serial.sh', shell=True,
+                                    stdout=DEVNULL, stderr=DEVNULL)
+        self.assertEquals(exit_code, 1)
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index dc48735..a101a9e 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@
 # The regex below is used to select which tests to run and exclude the slow tag:
 # See the testrepostiory bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/testrepository/+bug/1208610
 commands =
-  sh tools/pretty_tox.sh '(?!.*\[.*\bslow\b.*\])(^tempest\.(api|scenario|thirdparty|cli)) {posargs}'
+  sh tools/pretty_tox.sh '(?!.*\[.*\bslow\b.*\])(^tempest\.(api|scenario|thirdparty|cli|tests)) {posargs}'
 
 [testenv:testr-full]
 sitepackages = True
 setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
 commands =
-  sh tools/pretty_tox.sh '(?!.*\[.*\bslow\b.*\])(^tempest\.(api|scenario|thirdparty|cli)) {posargs}'
+  sh tools/pretty_tox.sh '(?!.*\[.*\bslow\b.*\])(^tempest\.(api|scenario|thirdparty|cli|tests)) {posargs}'
 
 [testenv:heat-slow]
 sitepackages = True
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
          NOSE_OPENSTACK_SHOW_ELAPSED=1
          NOSE_OPENSTACK_STDOUT=1
 commands =
-  nosetests --logging-format '%(asctime)-15s %(message)s' --with-xunit -sv --xunit-file=nosetests-full.xml tempest/api tempest/scenario tempest/thirdparty tempest/cli {posargs}
+  nosetests --logging-format '%(asctime)-15s %(message)s' --with-xunit -sv --xunit-file=nosetests-full.xml tempest/api tempest/scenario tempest/thirdparty tempest/cli tempest/tests {posargs}
 
 [testenv:py26-smoke]
 setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
 setenv = VIRTUAL_ENV={envdir}
 commands =
    python -m tools/tempest_coverage -c start --combine
-   sh tools/pretty_tox.sh '(?!.*\[.*\bslow\b.*\])(^tempest\.(api|scenario|thirdparty|cli))'
+   sh tools/pretty_tox.sh '(?!.*\[.*\bslow\b.*\])(^tempest\.(api|scenario|thirdparty|cli|tests))'
    python -m tools/tempest_coverage -c report --html {posargs}
 
 [testenv:stress]