diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 8ce4ceeb..9b23f4ad 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ $ np --help
     --no-yarn           Don't use Yarn
     --contents          Subdirectory to publish
     --no-release-draft  Skips opening a GitHub release draft
+    --test-script       Name of npm run script to run tests before publishing (default: test)
     --no-2fa            Don't enable 2FA on new packages (not recommended)
 
   Examples
@@ -94,6 +95,7 @@ Currently, these are the flags you can configure:
 - `yarn` - Use yarn if possible (`true` by default).
 - `contents` - Subdirectory to publish (`.` by default).
 - `releaseDraft` - Open a GitHub release draft after releasing (`true` by default).
+- `testScript` - Name of npm run script to run tests before publishing (`test` by default).
 - `2fa` - Enable 2FA on new packages (`true` by default) (it's not recommended to set this to `false`).
 
 For example, this configures `np` to never use Yarn and to use `dist` as the subdirectory to publish:
@@ -160,6 +162,25 @@ You can also add `np` to a custom script in `package.json`. This can be useful i
 }
 ```
 
+### User-defined tests
+
+If you want to run a user-defined test script before publishing instead of the normal `npm test` or `yarn test`, you can use `--test-script` flag or the `testScript` config. This is can be useful when your normal test script is running with a `--watch` mode or in case you want to run some specific tests (maybe on the packaged files) before publishing.
+
+For example, `np --test-script=publish-test` would run the `publish-test` script instead of the default `test`.
+
+```json
+{
+	"name": "my-awesome-package",
+	"scripts": {
+		"test": "ava --watch",
+		"publish-test": "ava"
+	},
+	"devDependencies": {
+		"np": "*"
+	}
+}
+```
+
 ### Signed Git tag
 
 Set the [`sign-git-tag`](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/config#sign-git-tag) npm config to have the Git tag signed:
diff --git a/source/cli.js b/source/cli.js
index 92b09c15..eb9e0190 100755
--- a/source/cli.js
+++ b/source/cli.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ const cli = meow(`
 	  --no-yarn           Don't use Yarn
 	  --contents          Subdirectory to publish
 	  --no-release-draft  Skips opening a GitHub release draft
+	  --test-script       Name of npm run script to run tests before publishing (default: test)
 	  --no-2fa            Don't enable 2FA on new packages (not recommended)
 
 	Examples
@@ -76,6 +77,9 @@ const cli = meow(`
 		preview: {
 			type: 'boolean'
 		},
+		testScript: {
+			type: 'string'
+		},
 		'2fa': {
 			type: 'boolean'
 		}
diff --git a/source/index.js b/source/index.js
index e70c9983..4a7444d5 100644
--- a/source/index.js
+++ b/source/index.js
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ module.exports = async (input = 'patch', options) => {
 	const rootDir = pkgDir.sync();
 	const hasLockFile = fs.existsSync(path.resolve(rootDir, options.yarn ? 'yarn.lock' : 'package-lock.json')) || fs.existsSync(path.resolve(rootDir, 'npm-shrinkwrap.json'));
 	const isOnGitHub = options.repoUrl && (hostedGitInfo.fromUrl(options.repoUrl) || {}).type === 'github';
+	const testScript = options.testScript || 'test';
+	const testCommand = options.testScript ? ['run', testScript] : [testScript];
 
 	let publishStatus = 'UNKNOWN';
 
@@ -145,14 +147,14 @@ module.exports = async (input = 'patch', options) => {
 			{
 				title: 'Running tests using npm',
 				enabled: () => options.yarn === false,
-				task: () => exec('npm', ['test'])
+				task: () => exec('npm', testCommand)
 			},
 			{
 				title: 'Running tests using Yarn',
 				enabled: () => options.yarn === true,
-				task: () => exec('yarn', ['test']).pipe(
+				task: () => exec('yarn', testCommand).pipe(
 					catchError(error => {
-						if (error.message.includes('Command "test" not found')) {
+						if (error.message.includes(`Command “${testScript}” not found`)) {
 							return [];
 						}