diff --git a/spec/shared_examples.rb b/spec/shared_examples.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d92156a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/shared_examples.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+shared_examples_for "a Puppet::Error" do |description|
+  it "with message matching #{description.inspect}" do
+    expect { should have_class_count(1) }.to raise_error(Puppet::Error, description)
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 2c6f5664..53d4dd02 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1 +1,7 @@
 require 'puppetlabs_spec_helper/module_spec_helper'
+require 'shared_examples'
+
+RSpec.configure do |c|
+  c.alias_it_should_behave_like_to :it_configures, 'configures'
+  c.alias_it_should_behave_like_to :it_raises, 'raises'
+end