diff --git a/Lib/test/bytecode_helper.py b/Lib/test/bytecode_helper.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c4943cda00d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Lib/test/bytecode_helper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+"""bytecode_helper - support tools for testing correct bytecode generation"""
+
+import unittest
+import dis
+import io
+
+_UNSPECIFIED = object()
+
+class BytecodeTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Custom assertion methods for inspecting bytecode."""
+
+    def get_disassembly_as_string(self, co):
+        s = io.StringIO()
+        dis.dis(co, file=s)
+        return s.getvalue()
+
+    def assertInstructionMatches(self, instr, expected, *, line_offset=0):
+        # Deliberately test opname first, since that gives a more
+        # meaningful error message than testing opcode
+        self.assertEqual(instr.opname, expected.opname)
+        self.assertEqual(instr.opcode, expected.opcode)
+        self.assertEqual(instr.arg, expected.arg)
+        self.assertEqual(instr.argval, expected.argval)
+        self.assertEqual(instr.argrepr, expected.argrepr)
+        self.assertEqual(instr.offset, expected.offset)
+        if expected.starts_line is None:
+            self.assertIsNone(instr.starts_line)
+        else:
+            self.assertEqual(instr.starts_line,
+                                expected.starts_line + line_offset)
+        self.assertEqual(instr.is_jump_target, expected.is_jump_target)
+
+
+    def assertBytecodeExactlyMatches(self, x, expected, *, line_offset=0):
+        """Throws AssertionError if any discrepancy is found in bytecode
+
+        *x* is the object to be introspected
+        *expected* is a list of dis.Instruction objects
+
+        Set *line_offset* as appropriate to adjust for the location of the
+        object to be disassembled within the test file. If the expected list
+        assumes the first line is line 1, then an appropriate offset would be
+        ``1 - f.__code__.co_firstlineno``.
+        """
+        actual = dis.get_instructions(x, line_offset=line_offset)
+        self.assertEqual(list(actual), expected)
+
+    def assertInBytecode(self, x, opname, argval=_UNSPECIFIED):
+        """Returns instr if op is found, otherwise throws AssertionError"""
+        for instr in dis.get_instructions(x):
+            if instr.opname == opname:
+                if argval is _UNSPECIFIED or instr.argval == argval:
+                    return instr
+        disassembly = self.get_disassembly_as_string(x)
+        if argval is _UNSPECIFIED:
+            msg = '%s not found in bytecode:\n%s' % (opname, disassembly)
+        else:
+            msg = '(%s,%r) not found in bytecode:\n%s'
+            msg = msg % (opname, argval, disassembly)
+        self.fail(msg)
+
+    def assertNotInBytecode(self, x, opname, argval=_UNSPECIFIED):
+        """Throws AssertionError if op is found"""
+        for instr in dis.get_instructions(x):
+            if instr.opname == opname:
+                disassembly = self.get_disassembly_as_string(co)
+                if opargval is _UNSPECIFIED:
+                    msg = '%s occurs in bytecode:\n%s' % (opname, disassembly)
+                elif instr.argval == argval:
+                    msg = '(%s,%r) occurs in bytecode:\n%s'
+                    msg = msg % (opname, argval, disassembly)
+                self.fail(msg)