diff --git a/python/.coveragerc b/python/.coveragerc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c712d2595
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/.coveragerc
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[run]
+omit = tests/*
diff --git a/python/.gitignore b/python/.gitignore
index 1cb7eb8a5..7c60e1af8 100644
--- a/python/.gitignore
+++ b/python/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 *.pyc
 dist
 damask.egg-info
+.coverage