diff --git a/autotest.sh b/autotest.sh
index 3831e181245..a411780d49c 100755
--- a/autotest.sh
+++ b/autotest.sh
@@ -12,11 +12,37 @@ DATABASEUSER=oc_autotest$EXECUTOR_NUMBER
 ADMINLOGIN=admin$EXECUTOR_NUMBER
 BASEDIR=$PWD
 
+DBCONFIGS="sqlite mysql pgsql oci"
+
+function print_syntax {
+	echo -e "Syntax: ./autotest.sh [dbconfigname] [testfile]\n" >&2
+	echo -e "\t\"dbconfigname\" can be one of: $DBCONFIGS" >&2
+	echo -e "\t\"testfile\" is the name of a test file, for example lib/template.php" >&2
+	echo -e "\nExample: ./autotest.sh sqlite lib/template.php" >&2
+	echo "will run the test suite from \"tests/lib/template.php\"" >&2
+	echo -e "\nIf no arguments are specified, all tests will be run with all database configs" >&2
+}
+
 if ! [ -w config -a -w config/config.php ]; then
 	echo "Please enable write permissions on config and config/config.php" >&2
 	exit 1
 fi
 
+if [ $1 ]; then
+	FOUND=0
+	for DBCONFIG in $DBCONFIGS; do
+		if [ $1 = $DBCONFIG ]; then
+			FOUND=1
+			break
+		fi
+	done
+	if [ $FOUND = 0 ]; then
+		echo -e "Unknown database config name \"$1\"\n" >&2
+		print_syntax
+		exit 2
+	fi
+fi
+
 # Back up existing (dev) config if one exists
 if [ -f config/config.php ]; then
 	mv config/config.php config/config-autotest-backup.php
@@ -160,10 +186,10 @@ EOF
 #
 if [ -z "$1" ]
   then
-	execute_tests 'sqlite'
-	execute_tests 'mysql'
-	execute_tests 'pgsql'
-	execute_tests 'oci'
+	# run all known database configs
+	for DBCONFIG in $DBCONFIGS; do
+		execute_tests $DBCONFIG
+	done
 else
 	execute_tests $1 $2 $3
 fi