diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ce9bb75..a3dbe1e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,5 @@
 locale
 Mailnag/plugins/goaplugin.py
 Mailnag/plugins/messagingmenuplugin.py
+/.cache
+
diff --git a/tests/test_backends.py b/tests/test_backends.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..70b0fee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_backends.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+#
+# test_backends.py
+#
+# Copyright 2016 Timo Kankare <timo.kankare@iki.fi>
+#
+# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+# GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston,
+# MA 02110-1301, USA.
+#
+
+"""Test cases for backends."""
+
+from Mailnag.backends import create_backend
+
+def test_create_imap_backend():
+	be = create_backend('imap', name='testing', user='nobody', password='', server='imap.example.org', port='', ssl=True, folders=['a', 'b'])
+	assert be is not None
+	assert not be.is_open()
+	assert be.server == 'imap.example.org'
+
+def test_create_imap_backend_with_defaults():
+	be = create_backend('imap', name='testing')
+	assert be is not None
+	assert not be.is_open()
+	assert be.server == ''
+
+def test_create_imap_backend_should_ignore_unknown_setting():
+	be = create_backend('imap', name='testing', odd='weird', weird='odd')
+	assert be is not None
+
+
+def test_create_pop3_backend():
+	be = create_backend('pop3', name='testing', user='nobody', password='', server='pop.example.org', port='', ssl=True)
+	assert be is not None
+	assert not be.is_open()
+	assert be.server == 'pop.example.org'
+
+def test_create_pop3_backend_with_defaults():
+	be = create_backend('pop3', name='testing')
+	assert be is not None
+	assert not be.is_open()
+	assert be.server == ''
+
+def test_create_pop3_backend_should_ignore_unknown_setting():
+	be = create_backend('pop3', name='testing', odd='weird', weird='odd')
+	assert be is not None
+