diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 0d2cb0ee..c2a9dffc 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 0.0.4-dev
 
  * Added a troubleshooting section with steps to deal with broken pipes.
+ * Added nosetests config file (setup.cfg) with defaults.
 
 0.0.3
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d289369a..825ca5ee 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ To install test-specific dependencies, first run:
 
 To actually run tests, run:
 
-    nosetests --detailed-errors
+    nosetests
 
 
 ## Troubleshooting
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ead29d1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[nosetests]
+detailed-errors=1