diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4553eaa2..23e11e8e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ Desktop.ini
 .idea
 phpunit.xml
 composer.lock
+composer.phar
 vendor
 /.settings
 /.buildpath
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 3d111441..80cb3484 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
     "require": {
         "php": ">=5.2.0"
     },
+    "require-dev": {
+        "phpunit/phpunit": "3.7.28"
+    },
     "autoload": {
         "psr-0": {
             "PHPWord": "src/"
diff --git a/phpunit.xml.dist b/phpunit.xml.dist
index e69de29b..edb893a7 100644
--- a/phpunit.xml.dist
+++ b/phpunit.xml.dist
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+<phpunit backupGlobals="false"
+         backupStaticAttributes="false"
+         bootstrap="test/bootstrap.php"
+         colors="true"
+         convertErrorsToExceptions="true"
+         convertNoticesToExceptions="true"
+         convertWarningsToExceptions="true"
+         processIsolation="false"
+         stopOnFailure="false"
+         syntaxCheck="false">
+    <testsuites>
+        <testsuite name="PHPWord Test Suite">
+            <directory>./test/PHPWord/</directory>
+        </testsuite>
+    </testsuites>
+</phpunit>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/PHPWord.php b/src/PHPWord.php
index 6ff77a0a..78dec75d 100644
--- a/src/PHPWord.php
+++ b/src/PHPWord.php
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@
 /** PHPWORD_BASE_PATH */
 if (!defined('PHPWORD_BASE_PATH')) {
     define('PHPWORD_BASE_PATH', dirname(__FILE__) . '/');
-    require PHPWORD_BASE_PATH . 'PHPWord/Autoloader.php';
-    PHPWord_Autoloader::Register();
+    require_once PHPWORD_BASE_PATH . 'PHPWord/Autoloader.php';
+    PHPWord_Autoloader::register();
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/PHPWord/Autoloader.php b/src/PHPWord/Autoloader.php
index dc48ef91..7c39830c 100644
--- a/src/PHPWord/Autoloader.php
+++ b/src/PHPWord/Autoloader.php
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
  * @version    Beta 0.6.3, 08.07.2011
  */
 
+define('PHPWORD_BASE_PATH', realpath(__DIR__ . '/../'));
+
 class PHPWord_Autoloader
 {
     /**
@@ -45,17 +47,12 @@ class PHPWord_Autoloader
      */
     public static function load($strObjectName)
     {
-        if ((class_exists($strObjectName)) || (strpos($strObjectName, 'PHPWord') === false)) {
-            return null;
+        $strObjectFilePath = __DIR__ . '/../' . str_replace('_', '/', $strObjectName) . '.php';
+        if (file_exists($strObjectFilePath) && is_readable($strObjectFilePath)) {
+            require_once $strObjectFilePath;
+            return true;
         }
 
-        $strObjectFilePath = PHPWORD_BASE_PATH . str_replace('_', '/', $strObjectName) . '.php';
-
-        if ((file_exists($strObjectFilePath) === false) || (is_readable($strObjectFilePath) === false)) {
-            return null;
-        }
-
-        require_once $strObjectFilePath;
-        return true;
+        return null;
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/PHPWord/Tests/AutoloaderTest.php b/test/PHPWord/Tests/AutoloaderTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cdfcf68e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/PHPWord/Tests/AutoloaderTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+<?php
+namespace PHPWord\Tests;
+
+use PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase;
+use PHPWord_Autoloader;
+
+class AutoloaderTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    public function testAutoload()
+    {
+        $this->assertNull(PHPWord_Autoloader::load('Foo'), 'PHPWord_Autoloader::load() is trying to load classes outside of the PHPWord namespace');
+        $this->assertTrue(PHPWord_Autoloader::load('PHPWord'), 'PHPWord_Autoloader::load() failed to autoload the PHPWord class');
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/PHPWord/Tests/_files/.gitkeep b/test/PHPWord/Tests/_files/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/test/bootstrap.php b/test/bootstrap.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..564f3f76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/bootstrap.php
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+<?php
+
+require_once __DIR__ . "/../src/PHPWord/Autoloader.php";
+PHPWord_Autoloader::register();
\ No newline at end of file