diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 8e8cf8edd2292..47b5865995d85 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -33,21 +33,22 @@ ide_version = "1.0.7-SNAPSHOT"
 # First off, create a new CrazyFun object.
 crazy_fun = CrazyFun.new
 
-# Secondly, we add the handlers, which are responsible for turning a build 
+# Secondly, we add the handlers, which are responsible for turning a build
 # rule into a (series of) rake tasks. For example if we're looking at a file
 # in subdirectory "subdir" contains the line:
 #
 # java_library(:name => "example", :srcs => ["foo.java"])
 #
 # we would generate a rake target of "//subdir:example" which would generate
-# a Java JAR at "build/subdir/example.jar". 
-# 
+# a Java JAR at "build/subdir/example.jar".
+#
 # If crazy fun doesn't know how to handle a particular output type ("java_library"
 # in the example above) then it will throw an exception, stopping the build
 JavaMappings.new.add_all(crazy_fun)
 JavascriptMappings.new.add_all(crazy_fun)
 MozillaMappings.new.add_all(crazy_fun)
 RakeMappings.new.add_all(crazy_fun)
+RubyMappings.new.add_all(crazy_fun)
 
 # Not every platform supports building every binary needed, so we sometimes
 # need to fall back to prebuilt binaries. The prebuilt binaries are stored in
@@ -59,7 +60,7 @@ end
 
 # Finally, find every file named "build.desc" in the project, and generate
 # rake tasks from them. These tasks are normal rake tasks, and can be invoked
-# from rake. 
+# from rake.
 crazy_fun.create_tasks(Dir["**/build.desc"])
 
 # Notice that because we're using rake, anything you can do in a normal rake
@@ -161,7 +162,7 @@ dll(:name => "firefox_dll",
     :src  => [ "common/src/cpp/webdriver-interactions/**/*", "jobbie/src/cpp/webdriver-firefox/**/*" ],
     :solution => "WebDriver.sln",
     :out  => "Win32/Release/webdriver-firefox.dll",
-    :deps  => [ 
+    :deps  => [
                 "//firefox:native_events_xpt",
               ],
     :prebuilt => "firefox/prebuilt")
@@ -191,12 +192,12 @@ dll(:name => "libwebdriver_firefox_so",
     :prebuilt => "firefox/prebuilt",
     :out  => "linux/Release/libwebdriver-firefox.so")
 
-# There is no official 64 bit gecko SDK. Fall back to trying to use the one on 
-# system, but be ready for this to fail. I have a Ubuntu machine, so that's 
+# There is no official 64 bit gecko SDK. Fall back to trying to use the one on
+# system, but be ready for this to fail. I have a Ubuntu machine, so that's
 # what I'm basing this on. I understand that's a Bad Idea
 
 gecko_devels = FileList.new("/usr/lib/xulrunner-devel-1.9.*/sdk")
-local_gecko = gecko_devels.empty? ? "" : gecko_devels.to_a[0] + "/" 
+local_gecko = gecko_devels.empty? ? "" : gecko_devels.to_a[0] + "/"
 
 dll(:name => "libwebdriver_firefox_so64",
     :src  => FileList.new('common/src/cpp/webdriver-interactions/*_linux.cpp') + FileList.new('firefox/src/cpp/webdriver-firefox/native_events.cpp'),
@@ -436,7 +437,7 @@ end
 desc 'Install prerequisites for the build. You may need to run this as root or Administrator'
 task :setup do
   sh "gem install Antwrap yard"
-  
+
   if python?
     sh "easy_install virtualenv"
   end
diff --git a/firefox/build.desc b/firefox/build.desc
index 2d68e2e37d395..79965c5b77d23 100644
--- a/firefox/build.desc
+++ b/firefox/build.desc
@@ -16,6 +16,18 @@ java_test(name = "test",
     "//remote/client:test"
   ])
 
+ruby_test(
+  srcs = [
+    "common/test/rb/spec/**/*_spec.rb",
+    "firefox/test/rb/spec/**/*_spec.rb"
+  ],
+  include = [
+    "firefox/src/rb/lib",
+    "remote/client/src/rb/lib"
+  ],
+  driver_name = "firefox"
+)
+
 mozilla_xpt(name = "native_events_xpt",
   srcs = [ "src/cpp/webdriver-firefox/nsINativeEvents.idl" ])
 
@@ -37,23 +49,23 @@ mozilla_xpi(name = "webdriver",
     ":command_processor_xpt",
     ":response_handler_xpt"
   ],
-  resources = [    
+  resources = [
     { ":firefox_dll" : "platform/WINNT_x86-msvc/components/webdriver-firefox.dll" },
     { ":libwebdriver_firefox_so" : "platform/Linux_x86-gcc3/components/libwebdriver-firefox.so" },
     { ":libwebdriver_firefox_so64" : "platform/Linux_x86_64-gcc3/components/libwebdriver-firefox.so" }
   ],
   chrome = "src/extension/chrome.manifest",
   install = "src/extension/install.rdf")
-  
+
 # Temporary rules while we migrate
 rake_task(name = "firefox_dll",
   task_name = "firefox_dll",
   out = "build/Win32/Release/webdriver-firefox.dll")
-  
+
 rake_task(name = "libwebdriver_firefox_so",
   task_name = "libwebdriver_firefox_so",
   out = "build/linux/Release/libwebdriver-firefox.so")
-  
+
 rake_task(name = "libwebdriver_firefox_so64",
   task_name = "libwebdriver_firefox_so64",
   out = "build/linux64/Release/libwebdriver-firefox.so")
@@ -61,7 +73,7 @@ rake_task(name = "libwebdriver_firefox_so64",
 rake_task(name = "libnoblur_so_64",
   task_name = "libnoblur_so_64",
   out = "build/linux64/Release/x_ignore_nofocus.so")
-  
+
 rake_task(name = "libnoblur_so",
   task_name = "libnoblur_so",
   out = "build/linux/Release/x_ignore_nofocus.so")
diff --git a/go b/go
index ea82a519a1399..3b128551c3d46 100755
--- a/go
+++ b/go
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-java -jar third_party/jruby/jruby-complete-1.5.0.RC2.jar -r third_party/jruby/antwrap.jar -S rake $*
+java -Djruby.launch.inproc=false  -jar third_party/jruby/jruby-complete-1.5.0.RC2.jar -r third_party/jruby/antwrap.jar -S rake $*
diff --git a/go.bat b/go.bat
index eba0e121def7c..86bf24f2a6a7a 100755
--- a/go.bat
+++ b/go.bat
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 @echo off
-java -jar third_party\jruby\jruby-complete-1.5.0.RC2.jar -r third_party\jruby\antwrap.jar -S rake %*
+java -Djruby.launch.inproc=false -jar third_party\jruby\jruby-complete-1.5.0.RC2.jar -r third_party\jruby\antwrap.jar -S rake %*
diff --git a/rake-tasks/ruby.rb b/rake-tasks/ruby.rb
index 0a16dd23d80ea..86b3bdae44763 100644
--- a/rake-tasks/ruby.rb
+++ b/rake-tasks/ruby.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,113 @@
+class RubyMappings
+
+  def add_all(fun)
+    fun.add_mapping "ruby_test", CheckArgs.new
+    fun.add_mapping "ruby_test", AddDefaults.new
+    fun.add_mapping "ruby_test", JRubyTest.new   # this probably needs //common:test as a dependency
+    fun.add_mapping "ruby_test", MRITest.new
+
+    # TODO: fun.add_mapping("rubygem", RubyGem.new)
+    # TODO: fun.add_mapping("rubydocs", RubyDocs.new)
+  end
+
+  class RubyTasks < Tasks
+    def task_name(dir, name)
+      super dir, "ruby:#{name}"
+    end
+  end
+
+  class CheckArgs
+    def handle(fun, dir, args)
+      raise "no :srcs specified for #{dir}" unless args.has_key? :srcs
+      raise "no :driver_name specified for #{dir}" unless args.has_key? :driver_name
+    end
+  end
+
+  class AddDefaults
+    def handle(fun, dir, args)
+      args[:include] = [".", "common/src/rb/lib", "common/test/rb/lib"] + Array(args[:include])
+      args[:command] = args[:command] || "spec"
+      args[:require] = Array(args[:require])
+
+      # move?
+      args[:srcs] = args[:srcs].map { |str| Dir[str] }.flatten
+    end
+  end
+
+  class JRubyTest < RubyTasks
+    def handle(fun, dir, args)
+      require = ["third_party/jruby/json-jruby.jar"] + Array(args[:require])
+
+      desc "Run ruby tests for #{dir} (jruby)"
+      task task_name(dir, "test:jruby") do
+        ENV['WD_SPEC_DRIVER'] = args[:driver_name] # TODO: get rid of ENV
+
+        jruby :include => args[:include],
+              :require => require,
+              :command => args[:command],
+              :files   => args[:srcs]
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  class MRITest < RubyTasks
+    def handle(fun, dir, args)
+      desc "Run ruby tests for #{dir} (mri)"
+      task task_name(dir, "test:mri") do
+        ENV['WD_SPEC_DRIVER'] = args[:driver_name] # TODO: get rid of this
+
+        ruby :include => args[:include],
+             :require => args[:require],
+             :command => args[:command],
+             :files   => args[:srcs]
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+end # RubyMappings
+
+class RubyRunner
+  def self.run(impl, opts)
+    cmd = []
+
+    case impl.to_sym
+    when :jruby
+      cmd << "java"
+      cmd << "-Djava.awt.headless=true" if opts[:headless]
+      cmd << "-jar" << "third_party/jruby/jruby-complete-1.5.0.RC2.jar"
+    else
+      cmd << impl.to_s
+    end
+
+    if opts.has_key? :include
+      cmd << "-I"
+      cmd << Array(opts[:include]).join(File::PATH_SEPARATOR)
+    end
+
+    Array(opts[:require]).each do |f|
+      cmd << "-r#{f}"
+    end
+
+    cmd << "-S" << opts[:command] if opts.has_key? :command
+    cmd += Array(opts[:files]) if opts.has_key? :files
+
+    sh(*cmd)
+  end
+end
+
+def jruby(opts)
+  RubyRunner.run :jruby, opts
+end
+
+
+def ruby(opts)
+  # if we're running on jruby, -Djruby.launch.inproc=false needs to be set for this to work.
+  # otherwise sh("ruby", ...) will reuse the current JVM
+  RubyRunner.run :ruby, opts
+end
+
+
+
 task :test_remote_rb => [:test_common, :remote_server] do
   ENV['WD_SPEC_DRIVER'] = 'remote'
   jruby :include  => [".", "common/src/rb/lib", "remote/client/src/rb/lib", "common/test/rb/lib"],
@@ -23,14 +133,6 @@
         :files   => Dir['common/test/rb/spec/**/*spec.rb']
 end
 
-task :test_firefox_rb => :test_common do
-  ENV['WD_SPEC_DRIVER'] = 'firefox'
-  jruby :include => [".", "common/src/rb/lib", "firefox/src/rb/lib", "remote/client/src/rb/lib", "common/test/rb/lib"],
-        :require => ["third_party/jruby/json-jruby.jar"],
-        :command => '-S spec',
-        :files   => Dir['{common,firefox}/test/rb/spec/**/*spec.rb']
-end
-
 #
 # remote
 #