diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..140a7f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# add project-relative load paths
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift(File.dirname(__FILE__))
+$LOAD_PATH.unshift(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'lib'))
+
+# require stuff
+require 'twhois'
+require 'rspec'
+require 'rspec/autorun'
+