diff --git a/project.clj b/project.clj
index de3fbb4..06886fe 100644
--- a/project.clj
+++ b/project.clj
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 (defproject ring-server "0.1.0"
   :description "Library for running Ring web servers"
   :dependencies [[org.clojure/clojure "1.2.1"]
-                 [ring "1.0.1"]])
+                 [ring "1.0.1"]]
+  :dev-dependencies [[clj-http "0.3.1"]])
diff --git a/src/ring/server/standalone.clj b/src/ring/server/standalone.clj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..65c6cad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ring/server/standalone.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+(ns ring.server.standalone
+  (:use [ring.adapter.jetty :only (run-jetty)]))
+
+(defn serve
+  "Start a web server to run a handler."
+  [handler & [{:as options}]]
+  (run-jetty
+    handler
+    (merge {:port 5000} options)))
diff --git a/test/ring/server/test/standalone.clj b/test/ring/server/test/standalone.clj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..737a4cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/ring/server/test/standalone.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+(ns ring.server.test.standalone
+  (:require [clj-http.client :as http])
+  (:use clojure.test
+        ring.server.standalone
+        ring.util.response))
+
+(defmacro with-server [server & body]
+  `(let [server# ~server]
+     (try
+       ~@body
+       (finally (.stop server#)))))
+
+(deftest serve-test
+  (let [handler (constantly (response "Hello World"))]
+    (with-server (serve handler {:join? false})
+      (let [resp (http/get "http://localhost:5000")]
+        (is (= (:status resp) 200))
+        (is (= (:body resp) "Hello World"))))))