diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 6bc084d88..48f73f7a2 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ Charles Cloud
 Charnjit SiNGH (CCSJ)
 Chris Lamb
 Christian Boelsen
+Christian Fetzer
 Christian Theunert
 Christian Tismer
 Christopher Gilling
diff --git a/changelog/3711.feature.rst b/changelog/3711.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1503bac60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/3711.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Add the ``--ignore-glob`` parameter to exclude test-modules with Unix shell-style wildcards.
+Add the ``collect_ignore_glob`` for ``conftest.py`` to exclude test-modules with Unix shell-style wildcards.
diff --git a/doc/en/example/pythoncollection.rst b/doc/en/example/pythoncollection.rst
index 8dcaa97d7..750bc58d8 100644
--- a/doc/en/example/pythoncollection.rst
+++ b/doc/en/example/pythoncollection.rst
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ you will see that ``pytest`` only collects test-modules, which do not match the
 
     ========================= 5 passed in 0.02 seconds =========================
 
+The ``--ignore-glob`` option allows to ignore test file paths based on Unix shell-style wildcards.
+If you want to exclude test-modules that end with ``_01.py``, execute ``pytest`` with ``--ignore-glob='*_01.py'``.
+
 Deselect tests during test collection
 -------------------------------------
 
@@ -266,3 +269,17 @@ file will be left out:
     collected 0 items
 
     ======================= no tests ran in 0.12 seconds =======================
+
+It's also possible to ignore files based on Unix shell-style wildcards by adding
+patterns to ``collect_ignore_glob``.
+
+The following example ``conftest.py`` ignores the file ``setup.py`` and in
+addition all files that end with ``*_py2.py`` when executed with a Python 3
+interpreter::
+
+    # content of conftest.py
+    import sys
+
+    collect_ignore = ["setup.py"]
+    if sys.version_info[0] > 2:
+        collect_ignore_glob = ["*_py2.py"]
diff --git a/doc/en/reference.rst b/doc/en/reference.rst
index 92e298a88..c1e22f854 100644
--- a/doc/en/reference.rst
+++ b/doc/en/reference.rst
@@ -797,6 +797,33 @@ Special Variables
 pytest treats some global variables in a special manner when defined in a test module.
 
 
+collect_ignore
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+**Tutorial**: :ref:`customizing-test-collection`
+
+Can be declared in *conftest.py files* to exclude test directories or modules.
+Needs to be ``list[str]``.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+  collect_ignore = ["setup.py"]
+
+
+collect_ignore_glob
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+**Tutorial**: :ref:`customizing-test-collection`
+
+Can be declared in *conftest.py files* to exclude test directories or modules
+with Unix shell-style wildcards. Needs to be ``list[str]`` where ``str`` can
+contain glob patterns.
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+  collect_ignore_glob = ["*_ignore.py"]
+
+
 pytest_plugins
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/src/_pytest/main.py b/src/_pytest/main.py
index 68d5bac40..bf35a4823 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/main.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/main.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ from __future__ import division
 from __future__ import print_function
 
 import contextlib
+import fnmatch
 import functools
 import os
 import pkgutil
@@ -117,6 +118,12 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
         metavar="path",
         help="ignore path during collection (multi-allowed).",
     )
+    group.addoption(
+        "--ignore-glob",
+        action="append",
+        metavar="path",
+        help="ignore path pattern during collection (multi-allowed).",
+    )
     group.addoption(
         "--deselect",
         action="append",
@@ -296,6 +303,20 @@ def pytest_ignore_collect(path, config):
     if py.path.local(path) in ignore_paths:
         return True
 
+    ignore_globs = config._getconftest_pathlist(
+        "collect_ignore_glob", path=path.dirpath()
+    )
+    ignore_globs = ignore_globs or []
+    excludeglobopt = config.getoption("ignore_glob")
+    if excludeglobopt:
+        ignore_globs.extend([py.path.local(x) for x in excludeglobopt])
+
+    if any(
+        fnmatch.fnmatch(six.text_type(path), six.text_type(glob))
+        for glob in ignore_globs
+    ):
+        return True
+
     allow_in_venv = config.getoption("collect_in_virtualenv")
     if not allow_in_venv and _in_venv(path):
         return True
diff --git a/testing/test_collection.py b/testing/test_collection.py
index 329182b0f..3716cacd1 100644
--- a/testing/test_collection.py
+++ b/testing/test_collection.py
@@ -374,6 +374,26 @@ class TestCustomConftests(object):
         assert result.ret == 0
         assert "passed" in result.stdout.str()
 
+    def test_collectignoreglob_exclude_on_option(self, testdir):
+        testdir.makeconftest(
+            """
+            collect_ignore_glob = ['*w*l[dt]*']
+            def pytest_addoption(parser):
+                parser.addoption("--XX", action="store_true", default=False)
+            def pytest_configure(config):
+                if config.getvalue("XX"):
+                    collect_ignore_glob[:] = []
+        """
+        )
+        testdir.makepyfile(test_world="def test_hello(): pass")
+        testdir.makepyfile(test_welt="def test_hallo(): pass")
+        result = testdir.runpytest()
+        assert result.ret == EXIT_NOTESTSCOLLECTED
+        result.stdout.fnmatch_lines("*collected 0 items*")
+        result = testdir.runpytest("--XX")
+        assert result.ret == 0
+        result.stdout.fnmatch_lines("*2 passed*")
+
     def test_pytest_fs_collect_hooks_are_seen(self, testdir):
         testdir.makeconftest(
             """
diff --git a/testing/test_session.py b/testing/test_session.py
index d64a1a519..6b185f76b 100644
--- a/testing/test_session.py
+++ b/testing/test_session.py
@@ -253,6 +253,21 @@ def test_exclude(testdir):
     result.stdout.fnmatch_lines(["*1 passed*"])
 
 
+def test_exclude_glob(testdir):
+    hellodir = testdir.mkdir("hello")
+    hellodir.join("test_hello.py").write("x y syntaxerror")
+    hello2dir = testdir.mkdir("hello2")
+    hello2dir.join("test_hello2.py").write("x y syntaxerror")
+    hello3dir = testdir.mkdir("hallo3")
+    hello3dir.join("test_hello3.py").write("x y syntaxerror")
+    subdir = testdir.mkdir("sub")
+    subdir.join("test_hello4.py").write("x y syntaxerror")
+    testdir.makepyfile(test_ok="def test_pass(): pass")
+    result = testdir.runpytest("--ignore-glob=*h[ea]llo*")
+    assert result.ret == 0
+    result.stdout.fnmatch_lines(["*1 passed*"])
+
+
 def test_deselect(testdir):
     testdir.makepyfile(
         test_a="""