diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 70b6bbd648d..20292c0e56a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -192,10 +192,11 @@ tslint accepts the following command-line options:
     option is set.
 
 --test:
-    Runs tslint on the specified directory and checks if tslint's output matches
-    the expected output in .lint files. Automatically loads the tslint.json file in the
-    specified directory as the configuration file for the tests. See the
-    full tslint documentation for more details on how this can be used to test custom rules.
+    Runs tslint on matched directories and checks if tslint outputs
+    match the expected output in .lint files. Automatically loads the
+    tslint.json files in the directories as the configuration file for
+    the tests. See the full tslint documentation for more details on how
+    this can be used to test custom rules.
 
 --project:
     The location of a tsconfig.json file that will be used to determine which
diff --git a/src/runner.ts b/src/runner.ts
index 49160371f33..5e767d3e651 100644
--- a/src/runner.ts
+++ b/src/runner.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import {
 } from "./configuration";
 import { FatalError } from "./error";
 import * as Linter from "./linter";
-import { consoleTestResultHandler, runTest } from "./test";
+import { consoleTestResultsHandler, runTests } from "./test";
 import { updateNotifierCheck } from "./updateNotifier";
 
 export interface IRunnerOptions {
@@ -130,8 +130,8 @@ export class Runner {
         }
 
         if (this.options.test) {
-            const results = runTest(this.options.test, this.options.rulesDirectory);
-            const didAllTestsPass = consoleTestResultHandler(results);
+            const results = runTests(this.options.test, this.options.rulesDirectory);
+            const didAllTestsPass = consoleTestResultsHandler(results);
             onComplete(didAllTestsPass ? 0 : 1);
             return;
         }
diff --git a/src/test.ts b/src/test.ts
index ba657040dc1..9c4887352aa 100644
--- a/src/test.ts
+++ b/src/test.ts
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ export interface TestResult {
     };
 }
 
+export function runTests(pattern: string, rulesDirectory?: string | string[]): TestResult[] {
+    return glob.sync(`${pattern}/tslint.json`)
+        .map((directory: string): TestResult => runTest(path.dirname(directory), rulesDirectory));
+}
+
 export function runTest(testDirectory: string, rulesDirectory?: string | string[]): TestResult {
     // needed to get colors to show up when passing through Grunt
     (colors as any).enabled = true;
@@ -162,6 +167,18 @@ export function runTest(testDirectory: string, rulesDirectory?: string | string[
     return results;
 }
 
+export function consoleTestResultsHandler(testResults: TestResult[]): boolean {
+    let didAllTestsPass = true;
+
+    for (const testResult of testResults) {
+        if (!consoleTestResultHandler(testResult)) {
+            didAllTestsPass = false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return didAllTestsPass;
+}
+
 export function consoleTestResultHandler(testResult: TestResult): boolean {
     let didAllTestsPass = true;
 
diff --git a/src/tslint-cli.ts b/src/tslint-cli.ts
index 4d4bfd1cc0e..8fbfbb6b87f 100644
--- a/src/tslint-cli.ts
+++ b/src/tslint-cli.ts
@@ -180,10 +180,11 @@ tslint accepts the following commandline options:
         option is set.
 
     --test:
-        Runs tslint on the specified directory and checks if tslint's output matches
-        the expected output in .lint files. Automatically loads the tslint.json file in the
-        specified directory as the configuration file for the tests. See the
-        full tslint documentation for more details on how this can be used to test custom rules.
+        Runs tslint on matched directories and checks if tslint outputs
+        match the expected output in .lint files. Automatically loads the
+        tslint.json files in the directories as the configuration file for
+        the tests. See the full tslint documentation for more details on how
+        this can be used to test custom rules.
 
     --project:
         The location of a tsconfig.json file that will be used to determine which