diff --git a/src/rebar_prv_common_test.erl b/src/rebar_prv_common_test.erl
index 00e970cbf..e34eefd0e 100644
--- a/src/rebar_prv_common_test.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_prv_common_test.erl
@@ -828,7 +828,13 @@ format_skipped({User, Auto}) ->
 maybe_cover_compile(State) ->
     {RawOpts, _} = rebar_state:command_parsed_args(State),
     State1 = case proplists:get_value(cover, RawOpts, false) of
-        true  -> rebar_state:set(State, cover_enabled, true);
+        true  ->
+            S1 = rebar_state:set(State, cover_enabled, true),
+            CoverInclMods = case proplists:get_value(cover_incl_mods, RawOpts) of
+                undefined -> undefined;
+                Mods -> split_string(Mods)
+            end,
+            rebar_state:set(S1, cover_incl_mods, CoverInclMods);
         false -> State
     end,
     rebar_prv_cover:maybe_cover_compile(State1).
@@ -856,6 +862,7 @@ ct_opts(_State) ->
      {logopts, undefined, "logopts", string, help(logopts)}, %% comma-separated list
      {verbosity, undefined, "verbosity", integer, help(verbosity)}, %% Integer
      {cover, $c, "cover", {boolean, false}, help(cover)},
+     {cover_incl_mods, undefined, "cover_incl_mods", string, help(cover_incl_mods)}, %% comma-separated list
      {cover_export_name, undefined, "cover_export_name", string, help(cover_export_name)},
      {repeat, undefined, "repeat", integer, help(repeat)}, %% integer
      {duration, undefined, "duration", string, help(duration)}, % format: HHMMSS
@@ -911,6 +918,8 @@ help(verbosity) ->
     "Verbosity";
 help(cover) ->
     "Generate cover data";
+help(cover_incl_mods) ->
+    "List of modules to include for coverage";
 help(cover_export_name) ->
     "Base name of the coverdata file to write";
 help(repeat) ->
diff --git a/src/rebar_prv_cover.erl b/src/rebar_prv_cover.erl
index 611795d98..505251f09 100644
--- a/src/rebar_prv_cover.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_prv_cover.erl
@@ -45,9 +45,12 @@ do(State) ->
 
 -spec maybe_cover_compile(rebar_state:t()) -> ok.
 maybe_cover_compile(State) ->
-    maybe_cover_compile(State, apps).
+    case rebar_state:get(State, cover_incl_mods, undefined) of
+        undefined -> maybe_cover_compile(State, apps);
+        Mods -> maybe_cover_compile(State, {modules, Mods})
+    end.
 
--spec maybe_cover_compile(rebar_state:t(), [file:name()] | apps) -> ok.
+-spec maybe_cover_compile(rebar_state:t(), [file:name()] | apps | {modules, [module()]}) -> ok.
 maybe_cover_compile(State, Dirs) ->
     case rebar_state:get(State, cover_enabled, false) of
         true  -> cover_compile(State, Dirs);
@@ -92,8 +95,14 @@ analyze(State) ->
     %% in order for cover data to be reloaded
     %% this maybe breaks if modules have been deleted
     %% since code coverage was collected?
-    {ok, S} = rebar_prv_compile:do(State),
-    ok = cover_compile(S, apps),
+    {ok, S1} = rebar_prv_compile:do(State),
+    {RawOpts, _} = rebar_state:command_parsed_args(S1),
+    CoverInclMods = case proplists:get_value(cover_incl_mods, RawOpts) of
+        undefined -> undefined;
+        Mods -> rebar_string:lexemes(Mods, [$,])
+    end,
+    S2 = rebar_state:set(S1, cover_incl_mods, CoverInclMods),
+    ok = maybe_cover_compile(S2),
     do_analyze(State).
 
 do_analyze(State) ->
@@ -319,6 +328,17 @@ cover_compile(State, apps) ->
     Apps = filter_checkouts_and_excluded(rebar_state:project_apps(State), ExclApps),
     AppDirs = app_dirs(Apps),
     cover_compile(State, lists:filter(fun(D) -> ec_file:is_dir(D) end, AppDirs));
+cover_compile(State, {modules, Mods}) ->
+    rebar_paths:set_paths([deps], State),
+    %% start the cover server if necessary
+    {ok, CoverPid} = start_cover(),
+    %% redirect cover output
+    true = redirect_cover_output(State, CoverPid),
+    ?DEBUG("cover compiling modules: ~p", [Mods]),
+    lists:foreach(fun(Module) ->
+        cover_compile_module(erlang:list_to_atom(Module))
+    end, Mods),
+    ok;
 cover_compile(State, Dirs) ->
     rebar_paths:set_paths([deps], State),
     %% start the cover server if necessary
@@ -354,6 +374,12 @@ is_ignored(Dir, File, ExclMods) ->
     Ignored andalso ?DEBUG("cover ignoring ~p ~p", [Dir, File]),
     Ignored.
 
+cover_compile_module(Module) ->
+    case catch cover:compile_beam(Module) of
+        {ok, _} -> ok;
+        Error -> ?WARN("Cover compilation failed: ~p", [Error])
+    end.
+
 cover_compile_file(FileName) ->
     case catch(cover:compile_beam(FileName)) of
         {error, Reason} ->
@@ -436,8 +462,10 @@ cover_dir(State) ->
 cover_opts(_State) ->
     [{reset, $r, "reset", boolean, help(reset)},
      {verbose, $v, "verbose", boolean, help(verbose)},
+     {cover_incl_mods, undefined, "cover_incl_mods", string, help(cover_incl_mods)}, %% comma-separated list
      {min_coverage, $m, "min_coverage", integer, help(min_coverage)}].
 
 help(reset) -> "Reset all coverdata.";
 help(verbose) -> "Print coverage analysis.";
+help(cover_incl_mods) -> "List of modules to include for coverage";
 help(min_coverage) -> "Mandate a coverage percentage required to succeed (0..100)".
diff --git a/src/rebar_prv_eunit.erl b/src/rebar_prv_eunit.erl
index 6478d18a5..92bf3f13f 100644
--- a/src/rebar_prv_eunit.erl
+++ b/src/rebar_prv_eunit.erl
@@ -537,7 +537,13 @@ apply_sys_config(State) ->
 maybe_cover_compile(State) ->
     {RawOpts, _} = rebar_state:command_parsed_args(State),
     State1 = case proplists:get_value(cover, RawOpts, false) of
-        true  -> rebar_state:set(State, cover_enabled, true);
+        true  ->
+            S1 = rebar_state:set(State, cover_enabled, true),
+            CoverInclMods = case proplists:get_value(cover_incl_mods, RawOpts) of
+                undefined -> undefined;
+                Mods -> rebar_string:lexemes(Mods, [$,])
+            end,
+            rebar_state:set(S1, cover_incl_mods, CoverInclMods);
         false -> State
     end,
     rebar_prv_cover:maybe_cover_compile(State1).
@@ -561,6 +567,7 @@ eunit_opts(_State) ->
     [{app, undefined, "app", string, help(app)},
      {application, undefined, "application", string, help(app)},
      {cover, $c, "cover", boolean, help(cover)},
+     {cover_incl_mods, undefined, "cover_incl_mods", string, help(cover_incl_mods)},
      {cover_export_name, undefined, "cover_export_name", string, help(cover_export_name)},
      {profile, $p, "profile", boolean, help(profile)},
      {dir, $d, "dir", string, help(dir)},
@@ -577,6 +584,7 @@ eunit_opts(_State) ->
 
 help(app)       -> "Comma separated list of application test suites to run. Equivalent to `[{application, App}]`.";
 help(cover)     -> "Generate cover data. Defaults to false.";
+help(cover_incl_mods) -> "List of modules to include for coverage";
 help(cover_export_name) -> "Base name of the coverdata file to write";
 help(profile)   -> "Show the slowest tests. Defaults to false.";
 help(dir)       -> "Comma separated list of dirs to load tests from. Equivalent to `[{dir, Dir}]`.";