diff -r 71c1970f27b6 Lib/http/server.py
--- a/Lib/http/server.py	Mon Nov 14 00:15:52 2016 -0800
+++ b/Lib/http/server.py	Tue Nov 15 23:30:31 2016 +0100
@@ -1173,7 +1173,8 @@
 
 
 def test(HandlerClass=BaseHTTPRequestHandler,
-         ServerClass=HTTPServer, protocol="HTTP/1.0", port=8000, bind=""):
+         ServerClass=HTTPServer, protocol="HTTP/1.0", port=8000, bind="",
+         directory=None):
     """Test the HTTP request handler class.
 
     This runs an HTTP server on port 8000 (or the port argument).
@@ -1182,15 +1183,20 @@
     server_address = (bind, port)
 
     HandlerClass.protocol_version = protocol
-    with ServerClass(server_address, HandlerClass) as httpd:
-        sa = httpd.socket.getsockname()
-        serve_message = "Serving HTTP on {host} port {port} (http://{host}:{port}/) ..."
-        print(serve_message.format(host=sa[0], port=sa[1]))
-        try:
-            httpd.serve_forever()
-        except KeyboardInterrupt:
-            print("\nKeyboard interrupt received, exiting.")
-            sys.exit(0)
+    saved_directory = os.getcwd()
+    try:
+        os.chdir(directory)
+        with ServerClass(server_address, HandlerClass) as httpd:
+            sa = httpd.socket.getsockname()
+            serve_message = "Serving HTTP on {host} port {port} (http://{host}:{port}/) ..."
+            print(serve_message.format(host=sa[0], port=sa[1]))
+            try:
+                httpd.serve_forever()
+            except KeyboardInterrupt:
+                print("\nKeyboard interrupt received, exiting.")
+                sys.exit(0)
+    finally:
+        os.chdir(saved_directory)        
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
@@ -1199,6 +1205,9 @@
     parser.add_argument('--bind', '-b', default='', metavar='ADDRESS',
                         help='Specify alternate bind address '
                              '[default: all interfaces]')
+    parser.add_argument('--directory', '-d', default=os.getcwd(),
+                        help='Specify alternate directory '
+                             '[default: current directory]')
     parser.add_argument('port', action='store',
                         default=8000, type=int,
                         nargs='?',
@@ -1208,4 +1217,5 @@
         handler_class = CGIHTTPRequestHandler
     else:
         handler_class = SimpleHTTPRequestHandler
-    test(HandlerClass=handler_class, port=args.port, bind=args.bind)
+    test(HandlerClass=handler_class, port=args.port, bind=args.bind,
+         directory=args.directory)