diff --git a/src/_pytest/pytester.py b/src/_pytest/pytester.py
index ce1c8ea1c..245b35d14 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/pytester.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/pytester.py
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
         ),
     )
 
+    parser.addini(
+        "pytester_example_dir", help="directory to take the pytester example files from"
+    )
+
 
 def pytest_configure(config):
     if config.getvalue("lsof"):
@@ -628,6 +632,11 @@ class Testdir(object):
         p.ensure("__init__.py")
         return p
 
+    def copy_example(self, name):
+        example_dir = self.request.config.getini("pytester_example_dir")
+        example_path = self.request.config.rootdir.join(example_dir, name)
+        example_path.copy(self.tmpdir.join(example_path.basename))
+
     Session = Session
 
     def getnode(self, config, arg):
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index e0ef2dccc..98abe28f3 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ filterwarnings =
     ignore:.*type argument to addoption.*:DeprecationWarning
     # produced by python >=3.5 on execnet (pytest-xdist)
     ignore:.*inspect.getargspec.*deprecated, use inspect.signature.*:DeprecationWarning
-
+pytester_example_dir = testing/example_scripts
 [flake8]
 max-line-length = 120
 ignore = E203,W503