diff --git a/tests/autoload.php b/tests/autoload.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..05fc3852924
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/autoload.php
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+/**
+ * SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2025 Nextcloud GmbH and Nextcloud contributors
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+ */
+
+require_once __DIR__ . '/../lib/base.php';
+
+/**
+ * This is a file that applications can require to be able to autoload the class Test\TestCase from Nextcloud tests
+ */
+
+\OC::$composerAutoloader->addPsr4('Test\\', OC::$SERVERROOT . '/tests/lib/', true);
diff --git a/tests/bootstrap.php b/tests/bootstrap.php
index 5ce6bc400bd..f633e50a8cf 100644
--- a/tests/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tests/bootstrap.php
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ if ($configDir) {
 }
 
 require_once __DIR__ . '/../lib/base.php';
+require_once __DIR__ . '/autoload.php';
 
-\OC::$composerAutoloader->addPsr4('Test\\', OC::$SERVERROOT . '/tests/lib/', true);
 \OC::$composerAutoloader->addPsr4('Tests\\', OC::$SERVERROOT . '/tests/', true);
 
 // load all enabled apps