diff --git a/test/_common.py b/test/_common.py
index 21c73858e..8105ef342 100644
--- a/test/_common.py
+++ b/test/_common.py
@@ -346,3 +346,11 @@ def system_mock(name):
         yield
     finally:
         platform.system = old_system
+
+
+def slowTest(unused=None):
+    def _id(obj):
+        return obj
+    if 'SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ:
+        return unittest.skip('test is slow')
+    return _id
diff --git a/test/test_art.py b/test/test_art.py
index d4ca814a5..b7b52c245 100644
--- a/test/test_art.py
+++ b/test/test_art.py
@@ -261,8 +261,7 @@ class GoogleImageTest(UseThePlugin):
         self.assertEqual(list(result_url), [])
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class ArtImporterTest(UseThePlugin):
     def setUp(self):
         super(ArtImporterTest, self).setUp()
diff --git a/test/test_convert.py b/test/test_convert.py
index e6f75c0ad..8ba71bdc9 100644
--- a/test/test_convert.py
+++ b/test/test_convert.py
@@ -64,8 +64,7 @@ class TestHelper(helper.TestHelper):
                                 .format(path, tag))
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class ImportConvertTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
 
     def setUp(self):
@@ -101,8 +100,7 @@ class ImportConvertTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
         self.assertTrue(os.path.isfile(item.path))
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class ConvertCliTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
 
     def setUp(self):
@@ -190,8 +188,7 @@ class ConvertCliTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
         self.assertFalse(os.path.exists(converted))
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class NeverConvertLossyFilesTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
     """Test the effect of the `never_convert_lossy_files` option.
     """
diff --git a/test/test_dbcore.py b/test/test_dbcore.py
index 00ef2f1fb..4b4cc18bb 100644
--- a/test/test_dbcore.py
+++ b/test/test_dbcore.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import os
 import shutil
 import sqlite3
 
+from test import _common
 from test._common import unittest
 from beets import dbcore
 from tempfile import mkstemp
@@ -127,8 +128,7 @@ class TestModelWithGetters(dbcore.Model):
         return {}
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class MigrationTest(unittest.TestCase):
     """Tests the ability to change the database schema between
     versions.
diff --git a/test/test_edit.py b/test/test_edit.py
index 34bad25a7..106cf1f25 100644
--- a/test/test_edit.py
+++ b/test/test_edit.py
@@ -15,9 +15,9 @@
 from __future__ import (division, absolute_import, print_function,
                         unicode_literals)
 import codecs
-import os
 
 from mock import patch
+from test import _common
 from test._common import unittest
 from test.helper import TestHelper, control_stdin
 
@@ -63,8 +63,7 @@ class ModifyFileMocker(object):
             f.write(contents)
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class EditCommandTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
     """ Black box tests for `beetsplug.edit`. Command line interaction is
     simulated using `test.helper.control_stdin()`, and yaml editing via an
diff --git a/test/test_importer.py b/test/test_importer.py
index 27dcd5a12..fea4d78a0 100644
--- a/test/test_importer.py
+++ b/test/test_importer.py
@@ -236,8 +236,7 @@ class ImportHelper(TestHelper):
         self.assertEqual(len(os.listdir(self.libdir)), 0)
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class NonAutotaggedImportTest(_common.TestCase, ImportHelper):
     def setUp(self):
         self.setup_beets(disk=True)
diff --git a/test/test_logging.py b/test/test_logging.py
index 8517f0a3f..478b7a7c6 100644
--- a/test/test_logging.py
+++ b/test/test_logging.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ from __future__ import (division, absolute_import, print_function,
                         unicode_literals)
 
 import sys
-import os
 import threading
 import logging as log
 from StringIO import StringIO
@@ -13,6 +12,7 @@ from StringIO import StringIO
 import beets.logging as blog
 from beets import plugins, ui
 import beetsplug
+from test import _common
 from test._common import unittest, TestCase
 from test import helper
 
@@ -164,8 +164,7 @@ class LoggingLevelTest(unittest.TestCase, helper.TestHelper):
         self.assertIn('dummy: debug import_stage', logs)
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class ConcurrentEventsTest(TestCase, helper.TestHelper):
     """Similar to LoggingLevelTest but lower-level and focused on multiple
     events interaction. Since this is a bit heavy we don't do it in
diff --git a/test/test_ui.py b/test/test_ui.py
index 08097b3f2..207d39261 100644
--- a/test/test_ui.py
+++ b/test/test_ui.py
@@ -594,8 +594,7 @@ class InputTest(_common.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(album, u'\xc2me')
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class ConfigTest(unittest.TestCase, TestHelper):
     def setUp(self):
         self.setup_beets()
@@ -1037,8 +1036,7 @@ class PathFormatTest(_common.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(pf[1:], default_formats)
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class PluginTest(_common.TestCase):
     def test_plugin_command_from_pluginpath(self):
         config['pluginpath'] = [os.path.join(_common.RSRC, 'beetsplug')]
@@ -1046,8 +1044,7 @@ class PluginTest(_common.TestCase):
         ui._raw_main(['test'])
 
 
-@unittest.skipIf('SKIP_SLOW_TESTS' in os.environ,
-                 'Skipping because test is slow')
+@_common.slowTest()
 class CompletionTest(_common.TestCase):
     def test_completion(self):
         # Load plugin commands