diff --git a/scripts/test.bat b/scripts/test.bat
index 7232c26193c..d45505db8a7 100644
--- a/scripts/test.bat
+++ b/scripts/test.bat
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ if %errorlevel% neq 0 node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
 
 :: Run tests
 set ELECTRON_ENABLE_LOGGING=1
-%CODE% .\test\unit\electron\index.js %*
+%CODE% .\test\unit\electron\index.js --crash-reporter-directory=%~dp0\..\.build\crashes %*
 
 popd
 
diff --git a/scripts/test.sh b/scripts/test.sh
index 10ffb97c71f..14a72e09cc3 100755
--- a/scripts/test.sh
+++ b/scripts/test.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ else
 	CODE=".build/electron/$NAME"
 fi
 
+VSCODECRASHDIR=$ROOT/.build/crashes
+
 # Node modules
 test -d node_modules || yarn
 
@@ -32,10 +34,10 @@ if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
 	cd $ROOT ; ulimit -n 4096 ; \
 		ELECTRON_ENABLE_LOGGING=1 \
 		"$CODE" \
-		test/unit/electron/index.js "$@"
+		test/unit/electron/index.js --crash-reporter-directory=$VSCODECRASHDIR "$@"
 else
 	cd $ROOT ; \
 		ELECTRON_ENABLE_LOGGING=1 \
 		"$CODE" \
-		test/unit/electron/index.js $LINUX_EXTRA_ARGS "$@"
+		test/unit/electron/index.js --crash-reporter-directory=$VSCODECRASHDIR $LINUX_EXTRA_ARGS "$@"
 fi
diff --git a/test/unit/electron/index.js b/test/unit/electron/index.js
index 089e25286cb..f5dc37d1093 100644
--- a/test/unit/electron/index.js
+++ b/test/unit/electron/index.js
@@ -7,9 +7,10 @@
 // come before any mocha imports.
 process.env.MOCHA_COLORS = '1';
 
-const { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain } = require('electron');
+const { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain, crashReporter } = require('electron');
+const product = require('../../../product.json');
 const { tmpdir } = require('os');
-const { join } = require('path');
+const { existsSync, mkdirSync } = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const mocha = require('mocha');
 const events = require('events');
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@ const optimist = require('optimist')
 	.describe('reporter-options', 'the mocha reporter options').string('reporter-options').default('reporter-options', '')
 	.describe('wait-server', 'port to connect to and wait before running tests')
 	.describe('timeout', 'timeout for tests')
+	.describe('crash-reporter-directory', 'crash reporter directory').string('crash-reporter-directory')
 	.describe('tfs').string('tfs')
 	.describe('help', 'show the help').alias('help', 'h');
 
@@ -44,8 +46,39 @@ if (argv.help) {
 	process.exit(0);
 }
 
+let crashReporterDirectory = argv['crash-reporter-directory'];
+if (crashReporterDirectory) {
+	crashReporterDirectory = path.normalize(crashReporterDirectory);
+
+	if (!path.isAbsolute(crashReporterDirectory)) {
+		console.error(`The path '${crashReporterDirectory}' specified for --crash-reporter-directory must be absolute.`);
+		app.exit(1);
+	}
+
+	if (!existsSync(crashReporterDirectory)) {
+		try {
+			mkdirSync(crashReporterDirectory);
+		} catch (error) {
+			console.error(`The path '${crashReporterDirectory}' specified for --crash-reporter-directory does not seem to exist or cannot be created.`);
+			app.exit(1);
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Crashes are stored in the crashDumps directory by default, so we
+	// need to change that directory to the provided one
+	console.log(`Found --crash-reporter-directory argument. Setting crashDumps directory to be '${crashReporterDirectory}'`);
+	app.setPath('crashDumps', crashReporterDirectory);
+
+	crashReporter.start({
+		companyName: 'Microsoft',
+		productName: process.env['VSCODE_DEV'] ? `${product.nameShort} Dev` : product.nameShort,
+		uploadToServer: false,
+		compress: true
+	});
+}
+
 if (!argv.debug) {
-	app.setPath('userData', join(tmpdir(), `vscode-tests-${Date.now()}`));
+	app.setPath('userData', path.join(tmpdir(), `vscode-tests-${Date.now()}`));
 }
 
 function deserializeSuite(suite) {