diff --git a/project/build/MultiJvmTests.scala b/project/build/MultiJvmTests.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ec0359c96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project/build/MultiJvmTests.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+import sbt._
+import sbt.Process
+import java.io.File
+import java.lang.{ProcessBuilder => JProcessBuilder}
+import java.io.{BufferedReader, Closeable, InputStream, InputStreamReader, IOException, OutputStream}
+import java.io.{PipedInputStream, PipedOutputStream}
+import scala.concurrent.SyncVar
+
+trait MultiJvmTests extends BasicScalaProject {
+  def multiJvmTestName = "MultiJvm"
+  def multiJvmOptions: Seq[String] = Nil
+
+  val MultiJvmTestName = multiJvmTestName
+
+  val ScalaTestRunner = "org.scalatest.tools.Runner"
+  val ScalaTestOptions = "-o"
+
+  val javaPath = Path.fromFile(System.getProperty("java.home")) / "bin" / "java"
+
+  private val HeaderStart = System.getProperty("sbt.start.delimiter", "==")
+  private val HeaderEnd = System.getProperty("sbt.end.delimiter", "==")
+
+  // exclude multi jvm tests from normal tests
+  override def testOptions = super.testOptions ++ Seq(TestFilter(test => !test.name.contains(MultiJvmTestName)))
+
+  lazy val multiJvmTest = multiJvmTestAction
+  lazy val multiJvmRun = multiJvmRunAction
+
+  def multiJvmTestAction = multiJvmAction(getMultiJvmTests, testScalaOptions)
+  def multiJvmRunAction = multiJvmAction(getMultiJvmApps, runScalaOptions)
+
+  def multiJvmAction(getMultiTestsMap: => Map[String, Seq[String]], scalaOptions: String => Seq[String]) = {
+    task { args =>
+      task {
+        val multiTestsMap = getMultiTestsMap
+        def process(tests: List[String]): Option[String] = {
+          if (tests.isEmpty) {
+            None
+          } else {
+            val testName = tests(0)
+            val failed = multiTestsMap.get(testName) match {
+              case Some(testClasses) => runMulti(testName, testClasses, scalaOptions)
+              case None => Some("No multi jvm test called " + testName)
+            }
+            failed orElse process(tests.tail)
+          }
+        }
+        val tests = if (args.size > 0) args.toList else multiTestsMap.keys.toList.asInstanceOf[List[String]]
+        process(tests)
+      } dependsOn (testCompile)
+    } completeWith(getMultiTestsMap.keys.toList)
+  }
+
+  def getMultiJvmTests(): Map[String, Seq[String]] = {
+    val allTests = testCompileConditional.analysis.allTests.toList.map(_.className)
+    filterMultiJvmTests(allTests)
+  }
+
+  def getMultiJvmApps(): Map[String, Seq[String]] = {
+    val allApps = (mainCompileConditional.analysis.allApplications.toSeq ++
+                   testCompileConditional.analysis.allApplications.toSeq)
+    filterMultiJvmTests(allApps)
+  }
+
+  def filterMultiJvmTests(allTests: Seq[String]): Map[String, Seq[String]] = {
+    val multiJvmTests = allTests filter (_.contains(MultiJvmTestName))
+    val names = multiJvmTests map { fullName =>
+      val lastDot = fullName.lastIndexOf(".")
+      val className = if (lastDot >= 0) fullName.substring(lastDot + 1) else fullName
+      val i = className.indexOf(MultiJvmTestName)
+      if (i >= 0) className.substring(0, i) else className
+    }
+    val testPairs = names map { name => (name, multiJvmTests.toList.filter(_.contains(name)).sort(_ < _)) }
+    Map(testPairs: _*)
+  }
+
+  def testIdentifier(className: String) = {
+    val i = className.indexOf(MultiJvmTestName)
+    val l = MultiJvmTestName.length
+    className.substring(i + l)
+  }
+
+  def testScalaOptions(testClass: String) = {
+    val scalaTestJars = testClasspath.get.filter(_.name.contains("scalatest"))
+    val cp = Path.makeString(scalaTestJars)
+    val paths = "\"" + testClasspath.get.map(_.absolutePath).mkString(" ", " ", " ") + "\""
+    Seq("-cp", cp, ScalaTestRunner, ScalaTestOptions, "-s", testClass, "-p", paths)
+  }
+
+  def runScalaOptions(appClass: String) = {
+    val cp = Path.makeString(testClasspath.get)
+    Seq("-cp", cp, appClass)
+  }
+
+  def runMulti(testName: String, testClasses: Seq[String], scalaOptions: String => Seq[String]) = {
+    log.control(ControlEvent.Start, "%s multi-jvm / %s %s" format (HeaderStart, testName, HeaderEnd))
+    val processes = testClasses.toList.zipWithIndex map {
+      case (testClass, index) => {
+        val jvmName = "JVM-" + testIdentifier(testClass)
+        val jvmLogger = new JvmLogger(jvmName)
+        log.info("Starting %s for %s" format (jvmName, testClass))
+        (testClass, startJvm(multiJvmOptions, scalaOptions(testClass), jvmLogger, index == 0))
+      }
+    }
+    val exitCodes = processes map {
+      case (testClass, process) => (testClass, process.exitValue)
+    }
+    val failures = exitCodes flatMap {
+      case (testClass, exit) if exit > 0 => Some("%s failed with exit code %s" format (testClass, exit))
+      case _ => None
+    }
+    failures foreach (log.error(_))
+    log.control(ControlEvent.Finish, "%s multi-jvm / %s %s" format (HeaderStart, testName, HeaderEnd))
+    if (!failures.isEmpty) Some("Some processes failed") else None
+  }
+
+  def startJvm(jvmOptions: Seq[String], scalaOptions: Seq[String], logger: Logger, connectInput: Boolean) = {
+    val si = buildScalaInstance
+    val scalaJars = Seq(si.libraryJar, si.compilerJar)
+    forkScala(jvmOptions, scalaJars, scalaOptions, logger, connectInput)
+  }
+
+  def forkScala(jvmOptions: Seq[String], scalaJars: Iterable[File], arguments: Seq[String], logger: Logger, connectInput: Boolean) = {
+    val scalaClasspath = scalaJars.map(_.getAbsolutePath).mkString(File.pathSeparator)
+    val bootClasspath = "-Xbootclasspath/a:" + scalaClasspath
+    val mainScalaClass = "scala.tools.nsc.MainGenericRunner"
+    val options = jvmOptions ++ Seq(bootClasspath, mainScalaClass) ++ arguments
+    forkJava(options, logger, connectInput)
+  }
+
+  def forkJava(options: Seq[String], logger: Logger, connectInput: Boolean) = {
+    val java = javaPath.toString
+    val command = (java :: options.toList).toArray
+    val builder = new JProcessBuilder(command: _*)
+    Process(builder).run(JvmIO(logger, connectInput))
+  }
+}
+
+final class JvmLogger(name: String) extends BasicLogger {
+  def jvm(message: String) = "[%s] %s" format (name, message)
+
+  def log(level: Level.Value, message: => String) = System.out.synchronized {
+    System.out.println(jvm(message))
+  }
+
+  def trace(t: => Throwable) = System.out.synchronized {
+    val traceLevel = getTrace
+    if (traceLevel >= 0) System.out.print(StackTrace.trimmed(t, traceLevel))
+  }
+
+  def success(message: => String) = log(Level.Info, message)
+  def control(event: ControlEvent.Value, message: => String) = log(Level.Info, message)
+
+  def logAll(events: Seq[LogEvent]) = System.out.synchronized { events.foreach(log) }
+}
+
+object JvmIO {
+  def apply(log: Logger, connectInput: Boolean) =
+    new ProcessIO(input(connectInput), processStream(log, Level.Info), processStream(log, Level.Error))
+
+  final val BufferSize = 8192
+
+  def processStream(log: Logger, level: Level.Value): InputStream => Unit =
+    processStream(line => log.log(level, line))
+
+  def processStream(processLine: String => Unit): InputStream => Unit = in => {
+    val reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(in))
+    def process {
+      val line = reader.readLine()
+      if (line != null) {
+	processLine(line)
+	process
+      }
+    }
+    process
+  }
+
+  def input(connectInput: Boolean): OutputStream => Unit =
+    if (connectInput) connectSystemIn else ignoreOutputStream
+
+  def connectSystemIn(out: OutputStream) = transfer(System.in, out)
+
+  def ignoreOutputStream = (out: OutputStream) => ()
+
+  def transfer(in: InputStream, out: OutputStream): Unit = {
+    try {
+      val buffer = new Array[Byte](BufferSize)
+      def read {
+        val byteCount = in.read(buffer)
+        if (Thread.interrupted) throw new InterruptedException
+        if (byteCount > 0) {
+	  out.write(buffer, 0, byteCount)
+	  out.flush()
+	  read
+	}
+      }
+      read
+    } catch {
+      case _: InterruptedException => ()
+    }
+  }
+}
+