diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 1c1f6e0b..34befbf1 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ Options are:
 
     -n [PROCESSES]                   How many processes to use, default: available CPUs
     -p, --pattern [PATTERN]          run tests matching this regex pattern
+        --exclude-pattern [PATTERN]  exclude tests matching this regex pattern
         --group-by [TYPE]            group tests by:
           found - order of finding files
           steps - number of cucumber/spinach steps
diff --git a/lib/parallel_tests/cli.rb b/lib/parallel_tests/cli.rb
index bb506e15..a7bda591 100644
--- a/lib/parallel_tests/cli.rb
+++ b/lib/parallel_tests/cli.rb
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ def parse_options!(argv)
         BANNER
         opts.on("-n [PROCESSES]", Integer, "How many processes to use, default: available CPUs") { |n| options[:count] = n }
         opts.on("-p", "--pattern [PATTERN]", "run tests matching this regex pattern") { |pattern| options[:pattern] = /#{pattern}/ }
+        opts.on("--exclude-pattern", "--exclude-pattern [PATTERN]", "exclude tests matching this regex pattern") { |pattern| options[:exclude_pattern] = /#{pattern}/ }
         opts.on("--group-by [TYPE]", <<-TEXT.gsub(/^          /, '')
           group tests by:
                     found - order of finding files
diff --git a/lib/parallel_tests/test/runner.rb b/lib/parallel_tests/test/runner.rb
index e7b379e1..a9ec2138 100644
--- a/lib/parallel_tests/test/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/parallel_tests/test/runner.rb
@@ -208,15 +208,22 @@ def sort_by_filesize(tests)
           tests.map! { |test| [test, File.stat(test).size] }
         end
 
-        def find_tests(tests, options = {})
-          (tests || []).map do |file_or_folder|
+        def find_tests(tests = [], options = {})
+          files_list = tests.map do |file_or_folder|
             if File.directory?(file_or_folder)
               files = files_in_folder(file_or_folder, options)
-              files.grep(options[:suffix]||test_suffix).grep(options[:pattern]||//)
+              files.grep(options[:suffix] || test_suffix)
+                .grep(options[:pattern] || //)
             else
               file_or_folder
             end
           end.flatten.uniq
+
+          if regex = options[:exclude_pattern]
+            files_list.reject! { |file| file =~ regex }
+          end
+
+          files_list
         end
 
         def files_in_folder(folder, options={})
diff --git a/spec/integration_spec.rb b/spec/integration_spec.rb
index 7ffc7de4..2c636663 100644
--- a/spec/integration_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/integration_spec.rb
@@ -287,6 +287,16 @@ def test_unicode
     expect(result).to include('ZZZ')
   end
 
+  it "excludes test by given pattern and relative paths" do
+    write "spec/x_spec.rb", "puts 'XXX'"
+    write "spec/acceptance/y_spec.rb", "puts 'YYY'"
+    write "spec/integration/z_spec.rb", "puts 'ZZZ'"
+    result = run_tests "spec", :add => "--exclude-pattern 'spec/(integration|acceptance)'", :type => "rspec"
+    expect(result).to include('XXX')
+    expect(result).not_to include('YYY')
+    expect(result).not_to include('ZZZ')
+  end
+
   it "can wait_for_other_processes_to_finish" do
     skip if RUBY_PLATFORM == "java" # just too slow ...
     write "test/a_test.rb", "require 'parallel_tests'; sleep 0.5 ; ParallelTests.wait_for_other_processes_to_finish; puts 'OutputA'"
diff --git a/spec/parallel_tests/cli_spec.rb b/spec/parallel_tests/cli_spec.rb
index aa14023c..27b513e5 100644
--- a/spec/parallel_tests/cli_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/parallel_tests/cli_spec.rb
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ def call(*args)
       expect(call(["--exec", "echo"])).to eq(execute: "echo")
     end
 
+    it "parses excludes pattern" do
+      expect(call(["--exclude-pattern", "spec/"])).to eq(exclude_pattern: /spec\//)
+    end
+
     it "parses regular count" do
       expect(call(["test", "-n3"])).to eq(defaults.merge(:count => 3))
     end