diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/RuleContext.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/RuleContext.java
index f7671a2..3977caf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/RuleContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/RuleContext.java
@@ -1284,6 +1284,13 @@
   }
 
   /**
+   * Returns true if the target for this context is a test target.
+   */
+  public boolean isTestTarget() {
+    return TargetUtils.isTestRule(getTarget());
+  }
+
+  /**
    * Returns true if runfiles support should create the runfiles tree, or
    * false if it should just create the manifest.
    */
@@ -1298,7 +1305,7 @@
     //  b. host tools could potentially use data files, but currently don't
     //     (they're run from the execution root, not a runfiles tree).
     //     Currently hostConfiguration.buildRunfiles() returns true.
-    if (TargetUtils.isTestRule(getTarget())) {
+    if (isTestTarget()) {
       // Tests are only executed during testing (duh),
       // and their runfiles are generated lazily on local
       // execution (see LocalTestStrategy). Therefore, it
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildConfiguration.java
index 3f8c6be3..f3d7b7f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildConfiguration.java
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@
     public boolean stampBinaries;
 
     // TODO(bazel-team): delete from OSS tree
-    // This value is always overwritten in the case of "blaze coverage" by :
+    // This default value is always overwritten in the case of "blaze coverage" by
     // CoverageCommand.setDefaultInstrumentationFilter()
     @Option(name = "instrumentation_filter",
         converter = RegexFilter.RegexFilterConverter.class,
@@ -571,6 +571,15 @@
             + "'javatests' or ending with '_test' will not be instrumented.")
     public RegexFilter instrumentationFilter;
 
+    @Option(name = "instrument_test_targets",
+        defaultValue = "true",
+        category = "semantics",
+        help = "When coverage is enabled, specifies whether to consider instrumenting test rules. "
+            + "When true (the default), test rules included by --instrumentation_filter are "
+            + "instrumented. When false, test rules are always excluded from coverage "
+            + "instrumentation.")
+    public boolean instrumentTestTargets;
+
     @Option(name = "show_cached_analysis_results",
         defaultValue = "true",
         category = "undocumented",
@@ -2045,6 +2054,15 @@
   }
 
   /**
+   * Returns a boolean of whether to include targets created by *_test rules in the set of targets
+   * matched by --instrumentation_filter. If this is false, all test targets are excluded from
+   * instrumentation.
+   */
+  public boolean shouldInstrumentTestTargets() {
+    return options.instrumentTestTargets;
+  }
+
+  /**
    * Returns the set of labels for coverage.
    */
   public Set<Label> getCoverageLabels() {
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/test/InstrumentedFilesCollector.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/test/InstrumentedFilesCollector.java
index 9951f63..bd20a52 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/test/InstrumentedFilesCollector.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/test/InstrumentedFilesCollector.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.analysis.RuleConfiguredTarget.Mode;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.analysis.RuleContext;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.analysis.TransitiveInfoCollection;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.analysis.config.BuildConfiguration;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.collect.nestedset.NestedSet;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.collect.nestedset.NestedSetBuilder;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.collect.nestedset.Order;
@@ -250,8 +251,9 @@
   public static final LocalMetadataCollector NO_METADATA_COLLECTOR = null;
 
   private static boolean shouldIncludeLocalSources(RuleContext ruleContext) {
-    return ruleContext.getConfiguration().getInstrumentationFilter().isIncluded(
-        ruleContext.getLabel().toString());
+    BuildConfiguration config = ruleContext.getConfiguration();
+    return ((config.shouldInstrumentTestTargets() || !ruleContext.isTestTarget())
+        && config.getInstrumentationFilter().isIncluded(ruleContext.getLabel().toString()));
   }
 
   private static Iterable<TransitiveInfoCollection> getAllPrerequisites(