diff --git a/package.xml b/package.xml
index 371825f8ce..09ee3796d4 100644
--- a/package.xml
+++ b/package.xml
@@ -206,6 +206,7 @@ http://pear.php.net/dtd/package-2.0.xsd">
        <file baseinstalldir="" name="AcceptTest.php" role="test" />
       </dir>
      </dir>
+     <file baseinstalldir="" name="AbstractMethodUnitTest.php" role="test" />
      <file baseinstalldir="" name="AllTests.php" role="test" />
      <file baseinstalldir="" name="ErrorSuppressionTest.php" role="test" />
      <file baseinstalldir="" name="IsCamelCapsTest.php" role="test" />
@@ -1959,6 +1960,7 @@ http://pear.php.net/dtd/package-2.0.xsd">
    <install as="TestSuite.php" name="tests/TestSuite.php" />
    <install as="TestSuite7.php" name="tests/TestSuite7.php" />
    <install as="tests/bootstrap.php" name="tests/bootstrap.php" />
+   <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/AbstractMethodUnitTest.php" name="tests/Core/AbstractMethodUnitTest.php" />
    <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/AllTests.php" name="tests/Core/AllTests.php" />
    <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/IsCamelCapsTest.php" name="tests/Core/IsCamelCapsTest.php" />
    <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/ErrorSuppressionTest.php" name="tests/Core/ErrorSuppressionTest.php" />
@@ -1994,6 +1996,7 @@ http://pear.php.net/dtd/package-2.0.xsd">
    <install as="tests/bootstrap.php" name="tests/bootstrap.php" />
    <install as="tests/TestSuite.php" name="tests/TestSuite.php" />
    <install as="tests/TestSuite7.php" name="tests/TestSuite7.php" />
+   <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/AbstractMethodUnitTest.php" name="tests/Core/AbstractMethodUnitTest.php" />
    <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/AllTests.php" name="tests/Core/AllTests.php" />
    <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/IsCamelCapsTest.php" name="tests/Core/IsCamelCapsTest.php" />
    <install as="CodeSniffer/Core/ErrorSuppressionTest.php" name="tests/Core/ErrorSuppressionTest.php" />
diff --git a/tests/Core/AbstractMethodUnitTest.php b/tests/Core/AbstractMethodUnitTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..45e7cc3680
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Core/AbstractMethodUnitTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * Base class to use when testing utility methods.
+ *
+ * @author    Juliette Reinders Folmer <phpcs_nospam@adviesenzo.nl>
+ * @copyright 2018-2019 Juliette Reinders Folmer. All rights reserved.
+ * @license   https://github.com/squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer/blob/master/licence.txt BSD Licence
+ */
+
+namespace PHP_CodeSniffer\Tests\Core;
+
+use PHP_CodeSniffer\Config;
+use PHP_CodeSniffer\Ruleset;
+use PHP_CodeSniffer\Files\DummyFile;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+abstract class AbstractMethodUnitTest extends TestCase
+{
+
+    /**
+     * The file extension of the test case file (without leading dot).
+     *
+     * This allows child classes to overrule the default `inc` with, for instance,
+     * `js` or `css` when applicable.
+     *
+     * @var string
+     */
+    protected static $fileExtension = 'inc';
+
+    /**
+     * The \PHP_CodeSniffer\Files\File object containing the parsed contents of the test case file.
+     *
+     * @var \PHP_CodeSniffer\Files\File
+     */
+    protected static $phpcsFile;
+
+
+    /**
+     * Initialize & tokenize \PHP_CodeSniffer\Files\File with code from the test case file.
+     *
+     * The test case file for a unit test class has to be in the same directory
+     * directory and use the same file name as the test class, using the .inc extension.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public static function setUpBeforeClass()
+    {
+        $config            = new Config();
+        $config->standards = ['PSR1'];
+
+        $ruleset = new Ruleset($config);
+
+        // Default to a file with the same name as the test class. Extension is property based.
+        $relativeCN     = str_replace(__NAMESPACE__, '', get_called_class());
+        $relativePath   = str_replace('\\', DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, $relativeCN);
+        $pathToTestFile = realpath(__DIR__).$relativePath.'.'.static::$fileExtension;
+
+        // Make sure the file gets parsed correctly based on the file type.
+        $contents  = 'phpcs_input_file: '.$pathToTestFile.PHP_EOL;
+        $contents .= file_get_contents($pathToTestFile);
+
+        self::$phpcsFile = new DummyFile($contents, $ruleset, $config);
+        self::$phpcsFile->process();
+
+    }//end setUpBeforeClass()
+
+
+    /**
+     * Clean up after finished test.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public static function tearDownAfterClass()
+    {
+        self::$phpcsFile = null;
+
+    }//end tearDownAfterClass()
+
+
+}//end class