diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 07992096c0fb..534c49538091 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,7 @@
 
 # pytest cache
 /.pytest_cache/
+
+# coverage data and reports
+/.coverage
+/htmlcov/
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index d660e39007c4..ece2757bb686 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Repository = "https://git.yoctoproject.org/wic"
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 tests = [
     "pytest >= 7.0",
+    "coverage >= 7.0",
+    "pytest-cov >= 4.0",
 ]
 
 [project.scripts]
diff --git a/tests/run-tests.sh b/tests/run-tests.sh
index 9db6d50338d6..a483da6a63a6 100755
--- a/tests/run-tests.sh
+++ b/tests/run-tests.sh
@@ -13,9 +13,13 @@ set -euo pipefail
 usage() {
     cat <<'USAGE'
 Usage:
-  tests/run-tests.sh [pytest args]
+  tests/run-tests.sh [--coverage] [--html [DIR]] [pytest args]
 
 Options:
+  --coverage    also measure branch coverage of src/wic and print a
+                terminal report listing the lines that were missed
+  --html [DIR]  also write an HTML coverage report (default dir:
+                htmlcov/); implies --coverage
   -h, --help    show this help and exit
 
 Anything else is passed straight through to pytest (for example a
@@ -24,6 +28,9 @@ tests/ is run.
 
 Examples:
   tests/run-tests.sh                  # whole suite
+  tests/run-tests.sh --coverage       # + terminal coverage report
+  tests/run-tests.sh --html           # + HTML report in htmlcov/
+  tests/run-tests.sh --html /tmp/cov  # + HTML report in /tmp/cov
   tests/run-tests.sh -k filemap -v    # pass args through to pytest
   tests/run-tests.sh tests/unit       # a single tier or file
 
@@ -34,9 +41,25 @@ USAGE
 REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
 PY="${PYTHON:-python3}"
 
+coverage=0
+html=0
+html_dir="htmlcov"
 pytest_args=()
 while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
     case "$1" in
+        --coverage)
+            coverage=1
+            ;;
+        --html)
+            coverage=1
+            html=1
+            # Optional directory argument: consume the next token only if
+            # it is not another option or the pytest pass-through marker.
+            case "${2:-}" in
+                ""|-*|--) ;;
+                *) html_dir="$2"; shift ;;
+            esac
+            ;;
         -h|--help)
             usage
             exit 0
@@ -72,4 +95,18 @@ if [ ${#pytest_args[@]} -eq 0 ]; then
     pytest_args=("tests")
 fi
 
+if [ "$coverage" -eq 1 ]; then
+    if ! "$PY" -c "import pytest_cov" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        echo "error: coverage requested but pytest-cov is not installed." >&2
+        echo "       run: $PY -m pip install -e \".[tests]\"" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    cov_args=(--cov=wic --cov-branch --cov-report=term-missing)
+    if [ "$html" -eq 1 ]; then
+        cov_args+=(--cov-report="html:${html_dir}")
+        echo "HTML coverage report: ${html_dir}/index.html" >&2
+    fi
+    exec "$PY" -m pytest "${pytest_args[@]}" "${cov_args[@]}"
+fi
+
 exec "$PY" -m pytest "${pytest_args[@]}"