diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index efc0473d..190912d0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
-.idea
-.venv*
 *.egg-info
 .eggs
-__pycache__
+.env
+.idea
 *.pyc
+.venv*
+__pycache__
 dist
 .coverage*
 coverage.xml
+/tmp
diff --git a/cratedb_toolkit/testing/pytest.py b/cratedb_toolkit/testing/pytest.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8e3ed7a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cratedb_toolkit/testing/pytest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+from typing import Generator
+
+import pytest
+
+from cratedb_toolkit.testing.testcontainers.cratedb import CrateDBTestAdapter
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def cratedb_service() -> Generator[CrateDBTestAdapter, None, None]:
+    """
+    Provide a CrateDB service instance to the test suite.
+    """
+    db = CrateDBTestAdapter()
+    db.start()
+    yield db
+    db.stop()
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 6460f30b..ddd02b2c 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -144,7 +144,6 @@ test = [
 testing = [
   "testcontainers<4",
 ]
-
 [project.urls]
 changelog = "https://github.com/crate-workbench/cratedb-toolkit/blob/main/CHANGES.rst"
 documentation = "https://github.com/crate-workbench/cratedb-toolkit"
@@ -155,6 +154,8 @@ cratedb-retention = "cratedb_toolkit.retention.cli:cli"
 cratedb-toolkit = "cratedb_toolkit.cli:cli"
 ctk = "cratedb_toolkit.cli:cli"
 migr8 = "cratedb_toolkit.io.mongodb.cli:main"
+[project.entry-points.pytest11]
+cratedb_service = "cratedb_toolkit.testing.pytest"
 
 [tool.black]
 line-length = 120
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 637e1529..20d25502 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ def configure_database_schema(session_mocker, prune_environment):
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
-def cratedb_service():
+def cratedb_custom_service():
     """
     Provide a CrateDB service instance to the test suite.
     """
@@ -67,12 +67,12 @@ def cratedb_service():
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
-def cratedb(cratedb_service):
+def cratedb(cratedb_custom_service):
     """
     Provide a fresh canvas to each test case invocation, by resetting database content.
     """
-    cratedb_service.reset(tables=RESET_TABLES)
-    yield cratedb_service
+    cratedb_custom_service.reset(tables=RESET_TABLES)
+    yield cratedb_custom_service
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/tests/testing/test_pytest.py b/tests/testing/test_pytest.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..91945e87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testing/test_pytest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import re
+
+import pytest
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skip("Does not work, because something stalls when using multiple containers")
+def test_cratedb_service(cratedb_service):
+    """
+    Verify the exported pytest fixture `cratedb_service` works as intended.
+    """
+    assert re.match(r"http://crate:@localhost:\d\d\d\d\d", cratedb_service.get_http_url())
+    assert re.match(r"crate://crate:@localhost:\d\d\d\d\d", cratedb_service.get_connection_url())
+
+    sql = "SELECT mountain FROM sys.summits ORDER BY prominence DESC LIMIT 1;"
+    highest_summit = cratedb_service.database.run_sql(sql, records=True)[0]
+    assert highest_summit["mountain"] == "Mont Blanc"