diff --git a/images/fn-test-utils/.gitignore b/images/fn-test-utils/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..22d0d82f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/fn-test-utils/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+vendor
diff --git a/images/fn-test-utils/Dockerfile b/images/fn-test-utils/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b05b6b80c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/fn-test-utils/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+
+# build stage
+FROM golang:1.9-alpine AS build-env
+RUN apk --no-cache add build-base git bzr mercurial gcc
+ENV D=/go/src/github.com/fnproject/fn/images/fn-test-utils
+RUN go get -u github.com/golang/dep/cmd/dep
+ADD Gopkg.* $D/
+RUN cd $D && dep ensure --vendor-only
+ADD . $D
+RUN cd $D && go build -o fn-test-utils && cp fn-test-utils /tmp/
+
+# final stage
+FROM alpine
+WORKDIR /function
+COPY --from=build-env /tmp/fn-test-utils /function
+ENTRYPOINT ["./fn-test-utils"]
diff --git a/images/fn-test-utils/Gopkg.lock b/images/fn-test-utils/Gopkg.lock
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dcebfda2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/fn-test-utils/Gopkg.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# This file is autogenerated, do not edit; changes may be undone by the next 'dep ensure'.
+
+
+[[projects]]
+  branch = "master"
+  name = "github.com/fnproject/fdk-go"
+  packages = ["."]
+  revision = "ce12b15e559bb56980c4134cbeadb99db9cd563a"
+
+[solve-meta]
+  analyzer-name = "dep"
+  analyzer-version = 1
+  inputs-digest = "c55f0d3da5ec2e9e5c9a7c563702e4cf28513fa1aaea1c18664ca2cb7d726f89"
+  solver-name = "gps-cdcl"
+  solver-version = 1
diff --git a/images/fn-test-utils/Gopkg.toml b/images/fn-test-utils/Gopkg.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4af110c13
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/fn-test-utils/Gopkg.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Gopkg.toml example
+#
+# Refer to https://github.com/golang/dep/blob/master/docs/Gopkg.toml.md
+# for detailed Gopkg.toml documentation.
+#
+# required = ["github.com/user/thing/cmd/thing"]
+# ignored = ["github.com/user/project/pkgX", "bitbucket.org/user/project/pkgA/pkgY"]
+#
+# [[constraint]]
+#   name = "github.com/user/project"
+#   version = "1.0.0"
+#
+# [[constraint]]
+#   name = "github.com/user/project2"
+#   branch = "dev"
+#   source = "github.com/myfork/project2"
+#
+# [[override]]
+#  name = "github.com/x/y"
+#  version = "2.4.0"
+
+
+[[constraint]]
+  branch = "master"
+  name = "github.com/fnproject/fdk-go"
diff --git a/images/fn-test-utils/build.sh b/images/fn-test-utils/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..66f91bee0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/fn-test-utils/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+set -e
+docker build -t fnproject/fn-test-utils:latest .
diff --git a/images/fn-test-utils/fn-test-utils.go b/images/fn-test-utils/fn-test-utils.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e27c17d58
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/fn-test-utils/fn-test-utils.go
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"io"
+	"log"
+	"time"
+
+	fdk "github.com/fnproject/fdk-go"
+	"net/http"
+)
+
+type AppRequest struct {
+	// if specified we 'sleep' the specified msecs
+	SleepTime int `json:"sleepTime,omitempty"`
+	// if specified, this is our response http status code
+	ResponseCode int `json:"responseCode,omitempty"`
+	// if specified, this is our response content-type
+	ResponseContentType string `json:"responseContentType,omitempty"`
+	// if specified, this is echoed back to client
+	EchoContent string `json:"echoContent,omitempty"`
+	// verbose mode
+	IsDebug bool `json:"isDebug,omitempty"`
+	// simulate crash
+	IsCrash bool `json:"isCrash,omitempty"`
+	// TODO: simulate slow read/slow write
+	// TODO: simulate partial write/read
+	// TODO: simulate mem leak
+	// TODO: simulate high cpu usage
+	// TODO: simulate high mem usage
+	// TODO: simulate large body upload/download
+}
+
+type AppResponse struct {
+	Request AppRequest        `json:"request"`
+	Headers http.Header       `json:"header"`
+	Config  map[string]string `json:"config"`
+}
+
+func AppHandler(ctx context.Context, in io.Reader, out io.Writer) {
+
+	fnctx := fdk.Context(ctx)
+
+	var request AppRequest
+	json.NewDecoder(in).Decode(&request)
+
+	if request.IsDebug {
+		log.Printf("Received request %v", request)
+		log.Printf("Received headers %v", fnctx.Header)
+		log.Printf("Received config %v", fnctx.Config)
+	}
+
+	// simulate load if requested
+	if request.SleepTime > 0 {
+		if request.IsDebug {
+			log.Printf("Sleeping %d", request.SleepTime)
+		}
+		time.Sleep(time.Duration(request.SleepTime) * time.Millisecond)
+	}
+
+	// simulate crash
+	if request.IsCrash {
+		panic("Crash requested")
+	}
+
+	// custom response code
+	if request.ResponseCode != 0 {
+		fdk.WriteStatus(out, request.ResponseCode)
+	} else {
+		fdk.WriteStatus(out, 200)
+	}
+
+	// custom content type
+	if request.ResponseContentType != "" {
+		fdk.SetHeader(out, "Content-Type", request.ResponseContentType)
+	} else {
+		fdk.SetHeader(out, "Content-Type", "application/json")
+	}
+
+	resp := AppResponse{
+		Request: request,
+		Headers: fnctx.Header,
+		Config:  fnctx.Config,
+	}
+
+	json.NewEncoder(out).Encode(&resp)
+}
+
+func main() {
+	fdk.Handle(fdk.HandlerFunc(AppHandler))
+}
diff --git a/images/fn-test-utils/release.sh b/images/fn-test-utils/release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..11e358228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/images/fn-test-utils/release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+set -e
+
+./build.sh
+docker push fnproject/fn-test-utils:latest
diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
index 56aa373ab..ca1843f91 100755
--- a/release.sh
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ docker tag $user/$image:latest $user/$image_deprecated:latest
 docker push $user/$image_deprecated:$version
 docker push $user/$image_deprecated:latest
 
+# release test utils docker image
+(cd images/fn-test-utils && ./release.sh)
+
 cd fnlb
 ./release.sh
 cd ..
diff --git a/test.sh b/test.sh
index 4711f733f..bb7be564f 100755
--- a/test.sh
+++ b/test.sh
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ docker run --name func-mysql-test -p 3306:3306 -e MYSQL_DATABASE=funcs -e MYSQL_
 docker rm -fv func-minio-test || echo No prev minio test container
 docker run -d -p 9000:9000 --name func-minio-test -e "MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=admin" -e "MINIO_SECRET_KEY=password" minio/minio server /data
 
+# build test image locally first
+(cd images/fn-test-utils && ./build.sh)
+
 # pull all images used in tests so that tests don't time out and fail spuriously
 docker pull fnproject/sleeper
 docker pull fnproject/error
@@ -47,7 +50,7 @@ export POSTGRES_URL="postgres://postgres:root@${POSTGRES_HOST}:${POSTGRES_PORT}/
 export MYSQL_URL="mysql://root:root@tcp(${MYSQL_HOST}:${MYSQL_PORT})/funcs"
 export MINIO_URL="s3://admin:password@${MINIO_HOST}:${MINIO_PORT}/us-east-1/fnlogs"
 
-go test -v $(go list ./... | grep -v vendor | grep -v examples | grep -v test/fn-api-tests)
+go test -v $(go list ./... | grep -v vendor | grep -v examples | grep -v test/fn-api-tests | grep -v images/fn-test-utils)
 go vet $(go list ./... | grep -v vendor)
 docker rm --force func-postgres-test
 docker rm --force func-mysql-test