diff --git a/.coveragerc b/.coveragerc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4be9bb19b03c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.coveragerc
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+[run]
+source=matplotlib
+[report]
+omit =
+    lib/matplotlib/tests/*
+    lib/matplotlib/testing/*
+
+exclude_lines =
+    raise NotImplemented
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 722a42ec6185..2b7d5ec615c7 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -73,3 +73,10 @@ result_images
 
 *.swp
 setup.cfg
+
+# Coverage generated files #
+############################
+
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+cover/
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 47931f7680ff..b749e95781ac 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ env:
     - PANDAS=
     - NPROC=2
     - TEST_ARGS=--no-pep8
+    - NOSE_ARGS="--processes=$NPROC --process-timeout=300"
 
 language: python
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ matrix:
       env: MOCK=mock NUMPY=numpy==1.6
     - python: 3.4
     - python: 3.5
-      env: PANDAS=pandas
+      env: PANDAS=pandas NOSE_ARGS=--with-coverage
     - python: 3.5
       env: TEST_ARGS=--pep8
     - python: 2.7
@@ -67,19 +68,17 @@ install:
         pip install $PRE python-dateutil $NUMPY pyparsing!=2.0.4 pillow sphinx!=1.3.0;
     fi
   # Always install from pypi
-  - pip install $PRE pep8 cycler
-  - 'pip install https://github.com/tacaswell/nose/zipball/mnt_py36_compat#egg=nose'
+  - pip install $PRE pep8 cycler coveralls coverage
+  - 'pip install git+https://github.com/jenshnielsen/nose.git@matplotlibnose'
 
   # We manually install humor sans using the package from Ubuntu 14.10. Unfortunatly humor sans is not
   # availible in the Ubuntu version used by Travis but we can manually install the deb from a later
   # version since is it basically just a .ttf file
   # The current Travis Ubuntu image is to old to search .local/share/fonts so we store fonts in .fonts
 
-  # We install ipython to use the console highlighting. From IPython 3 this depends on jsonschema and mistune.
-  # Neihter is installed as a dependency of IPython since they are not used by the IPython console.
   - |
     if [[ $BUILD_DOCS == true ]]; then
-      pip install $PRE numpydoc ipython jsonschema mistune
+      pip install $PRE numpydoc ipython
       pip install -q $PRE linkchecker
       wget https://github.com/google/fonts/blob/master/ofl/felipa/Felipa-Regular.ttf?raw=true -O Felipa-Regular.ttf
       wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/f/fonts-humor-sans/fonts-humor-sans_1.0-1_all.deb
@@ -94,17 +93,18 @@ install:
       cp .travis/setup.cfg .
     fi;
 
-  - python setup.py install
+  - pip install -e .
 
 script:
   # The number of processes is hardcoded, because using too many causes the
   # Travis VM to run out of memory (since so many copies of inkscape and
   # ghostscript are running at the same time).
   - echo Testing using $NPROC processes
+  - echo The following args are passed to nose $NOSE_ARGS
   - |
     if [[ $BUILD_DOCS == false ]]; then
       export MPL_REPO_DIR=$PWD  # needed for pep8-conformance test of the examples
-      gdb -return-child-result -batch -ex r -ex bt --args python tests.py --processes=$NPROC --process-timeout=300 $TEST_ARGS
+      gdb -return-child-result -batch -ex r -ex bt --args python tests.py $NOSE_ARGS $TEST_ARGS
     else
       cd doc
       python make.py html --small --warningsaserrors
@@ -165,3 +165,6 @@ after_success:
         fi
       fi
   fi
+  if [[ $NOSE_ARGS="--with-coverage" ]]; then
+     coveralls
+  fi
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
index c81cc8106a53..a19dd3c807db 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/__init__.py
@@ -1529,7 +1529,14 @@ def _get_extra_test_plugins():
     return [KnownFailure, attrib.Plugin]
 
 
-def test(verbosity=1):
+def _get_nose_env():
+    env = {'NOSE_COVER_PACKAGE': 'matplotlib',
+           'NOSE_COVER_HTML': 1,
+           'NOSE_COVER_NO_PRINT': 1}
+    return env
+
+
+def test(verbosity=1, coverage=False):
     """run the matplotlib test suite"""
     _init_tests()
 
@@ -1553,9 +1560,14 @@ def test(verbosity=1):
         # a list.
         multiprocess._instantiate_plugins = plugins
 
+        env = _get_nose_env()
+        if coverage:
+            env['NOSE_WITH_COVERAGE'] = 1
+
         success = nose.run(
             defaultTest=default_test_modules,
             config=config,
+            env=env,
         )
     finally:
         if old_backend.lower() != 'agg':
diff --git a/tests.py b/tests.py
index 529dbe70d112..87a6f8ba6601 100755
--- a/tests.py
+++ b/tests.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 def run(extra_args):
     from nose.plugins import multiprocess
 
+    env = matplotlib._get_nose_env()
+
     matplotlib._init_tests()
 
     # Nose doesn't automatically instantiate all of the plugins in the
@@ -33,8 +35,8 @@ def run(extra_args):
 
     nose.main(addplugins=[x() for x in plugins],
               defaultTest=default_test_modules,
-              argv=sys.argv + extra_args)
-
+              argv=sys.argv + extra_args,
+              env=env)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     extra_args = []