diff --git a/zerver/tests/test_templates.py b/zerver/tests/test_templates.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33f93f6f8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zerver/tests/test_templates.py
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+from __future__ import absolute_import
+
+import logging
+
+from django.test import TestCase
+from django.template.loader import get_template
+
+from zerver.models import get_user_profile_by_email
+from zerver.lib.test_helpers import get_all_templates
+
+
+class get_form_value(object):
+    def __init__(self, value):
+        self._value = value
+
+    def value(self):
+        return self._value
+
+
+class DummyForm(dict):
+    pass
+
+
+class TemplateTestCase(TestCase):
+    """
+    Tests that backend template rendering doesn't crash.
+
+    This renders all the Zulip backend templates, passing dummy data
+    as the context, which allows us to verify whether any of the
+    templates are broken enough to not render at all (no verification
+    is done that the output looks right).  Please see `get_context`
+    function documentation for more information.
+    """
+    def test_templates(self):
+        # Just add the templates whose context has a conflict with other
+        # templates' context in `exclude`.
+        exclude = ['analytics/activity.html']
+        templates = [t for t in get_all_templates() if t not in exclude]
+        self.render_templates(templates, self.get_context())
+
+        # Test the excluded templates with updated context.
+        update = {'data': [('one', 'two')]}
+        self.render_templates(exclude, self.get_context(**update))
+
+    def render_templates(self, templates, context):
+        for template in templates:
+            template = get_template(template)
+            try:
+                template.render(context)
+            except Exception:
+                logging.exception("Exception while rendering '{}'".format(template.template.name))
+
+    def get_context(self, **kwargs):
+        """Get the dummy context for shallow testing.
+
+        The context returned will always contain a parameter called
+        `shallow_tested`, which tells the signal receiver that the
+        test was not rendered in an actual logical test (so we can
+        still do coverage reporting on which templates have a logical
+        test).
+
+        Note: `context` just holds dummy values used to make the test
+        pass. This context only ensures that the templates do not
+        throw a 500 error when rendered using dummy data.  If new
+        required parameters are added to a template, this test will
+        fail; the usual fix is to just update the context below to add
+        the new parameter to the dummy data.
+
+        :param kwargs: Keyword arguments can be used to update the base
+            context.
+
+        """
+        email = "hamlet@zulip.com"
+        user_profile = get_user_profile_by_email(email)
+
+        context = dict(
+            shallow_tested=True,
+            user_profile=user_profile,
+            product_name='testing',
+            form=DummyForm(
+                full_name=get_form_value('John Doe'),
+                terms=get_form_value(True),
+                email=get_form_value(email),
+            ),
+            current_url=lambda: 'www.zulip.com',
+            referrer=dict(
+                full_name='John Doe',
+                realm=dict(name='zulip.com'),
+            ),
+            uid='uid',
+            token='token',
+            message_count=0,
+            messages=[dict(header='Header')],
+            new_streams=dict(html=''),
+            data=dict(title='Title'),
+        )
+
+        context.update(kwargs)
+        return context