diff --git a/tests/__init__.py b/tests/__init__.py
index e69de29bb2d1d6434b8b29ae775ad8c2e48c5391..c3de68ef53f20832da722033737c1995b311443e 100644
--- a/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import sys
+import os
+
+PYTHON_VERSION = sys.version_info
+SCRIPT_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+PLUGIN_ROOT_DIR = os.path.realpath(os.path.abspath(os.path.join(SCRIPT_DIR, '..')))
+PACKAGES_INSTALL_DIR = os.path.join(PLUGIN_ROOT_DIR, f'python{PYTHON_VERSION.major}.{PYTHON_VERSION.minor}')
+
+sys.path.append(PACKAGES_INSTALL_DIR)  # TODO: check for a less intrusive way to do this