diff --git a/app.lua b/app.lua
index 1bf5c43..7126588 100644
--- a/app.lua
+++ b/app.lua
@@ -438,6 +438,14 @@ function App.run_tests()
   App = saved_app
 end
 
+function App.run_test(test)
+  local saved_app = App
+  App = App_for_tests
+  App.initialize_for_test()
+  xpcall(test, function(err) prepend_debug_info_to_test_failure('', err) end)
+  App = saved_app
+end
+
 -- prepend file/line/test
 function prepend_debug_info_to_test_failure(test_name, err)
   local err_without_line_number = err:gsub('^[^:]*:[^:]*: ', '')