diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index f3dafb999..90e639234 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ David Vierra
 Denis Kirisov
 Diego Russo
 Dmitry Dygalo
+Dmitry Pribysh
 Duncan Betts
 Edison Gustavo Muenz
 Edoardo Batini
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 3f4814d8e..06bbdf120 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 New Features
 ------------
 
+* fix `#533`_: Added ``junit_suite_name`` ini option to specify root `<testsuite>` name for JUnit XML reports
+
 * Added an ini option ``doctest_encoding`` to specify which encoding to use for doctest files.
   Thanks `@wheerd`_ for the PR (`#2101`_).
 
@@ -105,6 +107,7 @@ Bug Fixes
 .. _@ojii: https://github.com/ojii
 
 
+.. _#533: https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/533
 .. _#1407: https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/1407
 .. _#1512: https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/1512
 .. _#1821: https://github.com/pytest-dev/pytest/issues/1821
diff --git a/_pytest/junitxml.py b/_pytest/junitxml.py
index 4bd334a16..301633706 100644
--- a/_pytest/junitxml.py
+++ b/_pytest/junitxml.py
@@ -226,13 +226,14 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
         metavar="str",
         default=None,
         help="prepend prefix to classnames in junit-xml output")
+    parser.addini("junit_suite_name", "Test suite name for JUnit report", default="pytest")
 
 
 def pytest_configure(config):
     xmlpath = config.option.xmlpath
     # prevent opening xmllog on slave nodes (xdist)
     if xmlpath and not hasattr(config, 'slaveinput'):
-        config._xml = LogXML(xmlpath, config.option.junitprefix)
+        config._xml = LogXML(xmlpath, config.option.junitprefix, config.getini("junit_suite_name"))
         config.pluginmanager.register(config._xml)
 
 
@@ -259,10 +260,11 @@ def mangle_test_address(address):
 
 
 class LogXML(object):
-    def __init__(self, logfile, prefix):
+    def __init__(self, logfile, prefix, suite_name="pytest"):
         logfile = os.path.expanduser(os.path.expandvars(logfile))
         self.logfile = os.path.normpath(os.path.abspath(logfile))
         self.prefix = prefix
+        self.suite_name = suite_name
         self.stats = dict.fromkeys([
             'error',
             'passed',
@@ -422,7 +424,7 @@ class LogXML(object):
         logfile.write(Junit.testsuite(
             self._get_global_properties_node(),
             [x.to_xml() for x in self.node_reporters_ordered],
-            name="pytest",
+            name=self.suite_name,
             errors=self.stats['error'],
             failures=self.stats['failure'],
             skips=self.stats['skipped'],
diff --git a/doc/en/usage.rst b/doc/en/usage.rst
index f6c20a978..763328f5a 100644
--- a/doc/en/usage.rst
+++ b/doc/en/usage.rst
@@ -177,6 +177,15 @@ integration servers, use this invocation::
 
 to create an XML file at ``path``.
 
+.. versionadded:: 3.1
+
+To set the name of the root test suite xml item, you can configure the ``junit_suite_name`` option in your config file:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+
+    [pytest]
+    junit_suite_name = my_suite
+
 record_xml_property
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/testing/test_junitxml.py b/testing/test_junitxml.py
index 7003d9f5f..bc637b035 100644
--- a/testing/test_junitxml.py
+++ b/testing/test_junitxml.py
@@ -616,6 +616,9 @@ def test_dont_configure_on_slaves(tmpdir):
             self.pluginmanager = self
             self.option = self
 
+        def getini(self, name):
+            return "pytest"
+
         junitprefix = None
         # XXX: shouldnt need tmpdir ?
         xmlpath = str(tmpdir.join('junix.xml'))
@@ -1032,3 +1035,26 @@ def test_url_property(testdir):
     test_case = minidom.parse(str(path)).getElementsByTagName('testcase')[0]
 
     assert (test_case.getAttribute('url') == test_url), "The URL did not get written to the xml"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('suite_name', ['my_suite', ''])
+def test_set_suite_name(testdir, suite_name):
+    if suite_name:
+        testdir.makeini("""
+            [pytest]
+            junit_suite_name={0}
+        """.format(suite_name))
+        expected = suite_name
+    else:
+        expected = 'pytest'
+    testdir.makepyfile("""
+        import pytest
+
+        def test_func():
+            pass
+    """)
+    result, dom = runandparse(testdir)
+    assert result.ret == 0
+    node = dom.find_first_by_tag("testsuite")
+    node.assert_attr(name=expected)
+