diff --git a/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts b/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts
index 3c70bd50f68d..96494582ea66 100644
--- a/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts
+++ b/tools/gulp/tasks/unit-test.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,12 @@ import {buildConfig, sequenceTask} from 'material2-build-tools';
 // There are no type definitions available for these imports.
 const runSequence = require('run-sequence');
 
-const {packagesDir, projectDir} = buildConfig;
+// Default Karma options.
+const defaultOptions = {
+  configFile: join(buildConfig.projectDir, 'test/karma.conf.js'),
+  autoWatch: false,
+  singleRun: false
+};
 
 /** Builds everything that is necessary for karma. */
 task(':test:build', sequenceTask(
@@ -23,10 +28,7 @@ task('test:single-run', [':test:build'], (done: () => void) => {
   // Load karma not outside. Karma pollutes Promise with a different implementation.
   const karma = require('karma');
 
-  new karma.Server({
-    configFile: join(projectDir, 'test/karma.conf.js'),
-    singleRun: true
-  }, (exitCode: number) => {
+  new karma.Server({...defaultOptions, singleRun: true}, (exitCode: number) => {
     // Immediately exit the process if Karma reported errors, because due to
     // potential still running tunnel-browsers gulp won't exit properly.
     exitCode === 0 ? done() : process.exit(exitCode);
@@ -35,39 +37,51 @@ task('test:single-run', [':test:build'], (done: () => void) => {
 
 /**
  * [Watch task] Runs the unit tests, rebuilding and re-testing when sources change.
- * Does not inline resources. Note that this doesn't use Karma's built-in file
- * watching. Due to the way our build process is set up, Karma ends up firing
- * it's change detection for every file that is written to disk, which causes
- * it to run tests multiple time and makes it hard to follow the console output.
- * This approach runs the Karma server and then depends on the Gulp API to tell
- * Karma when to run the tests.
+ * Does not inline resources.
  *
  * This task should be used when running unit tests locally.
  */
-task('test', [':test:build'], () => {
-  const patternRoot = join(packagesDir, '**/*');
-  // Load karma not outside. Karma pollutes Promise with a different implementation.
-  const karma = require('karma');
+task('test', [':test:build'], karmaWatchTask());
 
-  // Configure the Karma server and override the autoWatch and singleRun just in case.
-  const server = new karma.Server({
-    configFile: join(projectDir, 'test/karma.conf.js'),
-    autoWatch: false,
-    singleRun: false
-  });
+/**
+ * Runs a Karma server which will run the unit tests against any browser that connects to it.
+ * This is identical to `gulp test`, however it won't launch and manage Chrome automatically,
+ * which makes it convenient debugging unit tests against multiple different browsers.
+ */
+task('test:static', [':test:build'], karmaWatchTask({browsers: []}));
 
-  // Refreshes Karma's file list and schedules a test run.
-  // Tests will only run if TypeScript compilation was successful.
-  const runTests = (err?: Error) => {
-    if (!err) {
-      server.refreshFiles().then(() => server._injector.get('executor').schedule());
-    }
-  };
+/**
+ * Returns a Gulp task that spawns a Karma server and reloads whenever the files change.
+ * Note that this doesn't use Karma's built-in file watching. Due to the way our build
+ * process is set up, Karma ends up firing it's change detection for every file that is
+ * written to disk, which causes it to run tests multiple time and makes it hard to follow
+ * the console output. This approach runs the Karma server and then depends on the Gulp API
+ * to tell Karma when to run the tests.
+ * @param overrides Karma options to use on top of the defaults.
+ */
+function karmaWatchTask(options?: any) {
+  return () => {
+    const patternRoot = join(buildConfig.packagesDir, '**/*');
+    // Note: Karma shouldn't be required from the outside, because it
+    // pollutes the global Promise with a custom implementation.
+    const karma = require('karma');
 
-  // Boot up the test server and run the tests whenever a new browser connects.
-  server.start();
-  server.on('browser_register', () => runTests());
+    // Configure the Karma server and override the autoWatch and singleRun just in case.
+    const server = new karma.Server({...defaultOptions, ...options});
 
-  // Whenever a file change has been recognized, rebuild and re-run the tests.
-  watch(patternRoot + '.+(ts|scss|html)', () => runSequence(':test:build', runTests));
-});
+    // Refreshes Karma's file list and schedules a test run.
+    // Tests will only run if TypeScript compilation was successful.
+    const runTests = (error?: Error) => {
+      if (!error) {
+        server.refreshFiles().then(() => server._injector.get('executor').schedule());
+      }
+    };
+
+    // Boot up the test server and run the tests whenever a new browser connects.
+    server.start();
+    server.on('browser_register', () => runTests());
+
+    // Whenever a file change has been recognized, rebuild and re-run the tests.
+    watch(patternRoot + '.+(ts|scss|html)', () => runSequence(':test:build', runTests));
+  };
+}