diff --git a/tests/ppt_parser/__init__.py b/tests/ppt_parser/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ppt_parser/__init__.py
diff --git a/tests/ppt_parser/test_basic.py b/tests/ppt_parser/test_basic.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8956b30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/ppt_parser/test_basic.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+""" Test ppt_parser and ppt_record_parser """
+
+import unittest
+import os
+from os.path import join
+
+# Directory with test data, independent of current working directory
+from tests.test_utils import DATA_BASE_DIR
+
+from oletools import ppt_record_parser
+# ppt_parser not tested yet
+
+
+class TestBasic(unittest.TestCase):
+    """ test basic functionality of ppt parsing """
+
+    def test_is_ppt(self):
+        """ test ppt_record_parser.is_ppt(filename) """
+        exceptions = []
+        for base_dir, _, files in os.walk(DATA_BASE_DIR):
+            for filename in files:
+                if filename in exceptions:
+                    continue
+                full_name = join(base_dir, filename)
+                if filename.endswith('.ppt') or filename.endswith('.pps'):
+                    self.assertTrue(ppt_record_parser.is_ppt(full_name),
+                                    msg='{0} not recognized as ppt file'
+                                        .format(full_name))
+                else:
+                    self.assertFalse(ppt_record_parser.is_ppt(full_name),
+                                     msg='{0} erroneously recognized as ppt'
+                                         .format(full_name))
+
+
+# just in case somebody calls this file as a script
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()