diff --git a/examples/test_examples.py b/examples/test_examples.py
index 81de8235..979bbfb5 100644
--- a/examples/test_examples.py
+++ b/examples/test_examples.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import print_function, division, absolute_import
 from pyqtgraph import Qt
 from . import utils
+from collections import namedtuple
 import errno
 import importlib
 import itertools
@@ -13,77 +14,6 @@ import time
 
 path = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 
-
-def runExampleFile(name, f, exe, lib, graphicsSystem=None):
-    global path
-    fn = os.path.join(path,f)
-    os.chdir(path)
-    sys.stdout.write("{} ".format(name))
-    sys.stdout.flush()
-    import1 = "import %s" % lib if lib != '' else ''
-    import2 = os.path.splitext(os.path.split(fn)[1])[0]
-    graphicsSystem = '' if graphicsSystem is None else "pg.QtGui.QApplication.setGraphicsSystem('%s')" % graphicsSystem
-    code = """
-try:
-    %s
-    import initExample
-    import pyqtgraph as pg
-    %s
-    import %s
-    import sys
-    print("test complete")
-    sys.stdout.flush()
-    import time
-    while True:  ## run a little event loop
-        pg.QtGui.QApplication.processEvents()
-        time.sleep(0.01)
-except:
-    print("test failed")
-    raise
-
-""" % (import1, graphicsSystem, import2)
-    if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
-        process = subprocess.Popen([exe],
-                                    stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-                                    stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
-                                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    else:
-        process = subprocess.Popen(['exec %s -i' % (exe)],
-                                   shell=True,
-                                   stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
-                                   stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
-                                   stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
-    process.stdin.write(code.encode('UTF-8'))
-    process.stdin.close() ##?
-    output = ''
-    fail = False
-    while True:
-        try:
-            c = process.stdout.read(1).decode()
-        except IOError as err:
-            if err.errno == errno.EINTR:
-                # Interrupted system call; just try again.
-                c = ''
-            else:
-                raise
-        output += c
-
-        if output.endswith('test complete'):
-            break
-        if output.endswith('test failed'):
-            fail = True
-            break
-    time.sleep(1)
-    process.kill()
-    #res = process.communicate()
-    res = (process.stdout.read(), process.stderr.read())
-    if fail or 'exception' in res[1].decode().lower() or 'error' in res[1].decode().lower():
-        print(res[0].decode())
-        print(res[1].decode())
-        return False
-    return True
-
-
 # printing on travis ci frequently leads to "interrupted system call" errors.
 # as a workaround, we overwrite the built-in print function (bleh)
 if os.getenv('TRAVIS') is not None:
@@ -124,9 +54,9 @@ for frontend in frontends.keys():
 
 installed = sorted([frontend for frontend, isPresent in frontends.items() if isPresent])
 
-# keep a dictionary of example files and their non-standard dependencies
-specialExamples = {
-    "hdf5.py": ["h5py"]
+exceptionCondition = namedtuple("exceptionCondition", ["condition", "reason"])
+conditionalExampleTests = {
+    "hdf5.py": exceptionCondition(False, reason="Example requires user interaction and is not suitable for testing")
 }
 
 
@@ -136,15 +66,84 @@ specialExamples = {
 		pytest.param(
 			frontend,
             f,
-			marks=pytest.mark.skipif(any(pkgutil.find_loader(pkg) is None for pkg in specialExamples[f[1]]),
-                                     reason="Skipping Example for Missing Dependencies") if f[1] in specialExamples.keys() else (),
+            marks=pytest.mark.skipif(conditionalExampleTests[f[1]].condition is False,
+                                     reason=conditionalExampleTests[f[1]].reason) if f[1] in conditionalExampleTests.keys() else (),
 		)
 		for frontend, f, in itertools.product(installed, files)
 	],
     ids = [" {} - {} ".format(f[1], frontend) for frontend, f in itertools.product(installed, files)]
 )
-def testExamples(frontend, f):
-    assert runExampleFile(f[0], f[1], sys.executable, frontend)
+def testExamples(frontend, f, graphicsSystem=None):
+    # runExampleFile(f[0], f[1], sys.executable, frontend)
+
+    name, file = f
+    global path
+    fn = os.path.join(path,file)
+    os.chdir(path)
+    sys.stdout.write("{} ".format(name))
+    sys.stdout.flush()
+    import1 = "import %s" % frontend if frontend != '' else ''
+    import2 = os.path.splitext(os.path.split(fn)[1])[0]
+    graphicsSystem = '' if graphicsSystem is None else "pg.QtGui.QApplication.setGraphicsSystem('%s')" % graphicsSystem
+    code = """
+try:
+    %s
+    import initExample
+    import pyqtgraph as pg
+    %s
+    import %s
+    import sys
+    print("test complete")
+    sys.stdout.flush()
+    import time
+    while True:  ## run a little event loop
+        pg.QtGui.QApplication.processEvents()
+        time.sleep(0.01)
+except:
+    print("test failed")
+    raise
+
+""" % (import1, graphicsSystem, import2)
+    if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
+        process = subprocess.Popen([sys.executable],
+                                    stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                    stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                    stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+    else:
+        process = subprocess.Popen(['exec %s -i' % (sys.executable)],
+                                   shell=True,
+                                   stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                   stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+                                   stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
+    process.stdin.write(code.encode('UTF-8'))
+    process.stdin.close() ##?
+    output = ''
+    fail = False
+    while True:
+        try:
+            c = process.stdout.read(1).decode()
+        except IOError as err:
+            if err.errno == errno.EINTR:
+                # Interrupted system call; just try again.
+                c = ''
+            else:
+                raise
+        output += c
+
+        if output.endswith('test complete'):
+            break
+        if output.endswith('test failed'):
+            fail = True
+            break
+    time.sleep(1)
+    process.kill()
+    #res = process.communicate()
+    res = (process.stdout.read(), process.stderr.read())
+    if fail or 'exception' in res[1].decode().lower() or 'error' in res[1].decode().lower():
+        print(res[0].decode())
+        print(res[1].decode())
+        pytest.fail("{}\n{}\nFailed {} Example Test Located in {} ".format(res[0].decode(), res[1].decode(), name, file), pytrace=False)
+    assert True
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     pytest.cmdline.main()