diff --git a/bindep.txt b/bindep.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7071c188bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bindep.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# This is a cross-platform list tracking distribution packages needed for install and tests;
+# see https://docs.openstack.org/infra/bindep/ for additional information.
+
+mysql-server [platform:dpkg]
+mariadb-server [platform:redhat]
+postgresql
+
+build-essential [platform:dpkg]
+python-dev [platform:dpkg]
+python3-all-dev [platform:dpkg]
+libxml2-dev [platform:dpkg]
+libxslt1-dev [platform:dpkg]
+libyaml-dev [platform:dpkg]
+libssl-dev [platform:dpkg]
+libffi-dev [platform:dpkg]
+libmysqlclient-dev [platform:dpkg]
+libpq-dev [platform:dpkg]
+mysql-client [platform:dpkg]
+postgresql-client [platform:dpkg]
+
+gcc [platform:rpm]
+python-devel [platform:rpm]
+python3-devel [platform:fedora platform:suse]
+python3 [platform:suse]
+libxml2-devel [platform:rpm]
+libxslt-devel [platform:rpm]
+libyaml-devel [platform:rpm]
+openssl-devel [platform:rpm]
+libffi-devel [platform:redhat platform:suse !platform:opensuse423]
+libffi48-devel [platform:opensuse423]
+mariadb-devel [platform:redhat]
+libmysqlclient-devel [platform:suse]
+postgresql-devel [platform:rpm]
+
+dev-libs/libxml2 [platform:gentoo]
+dev-libs/libxslt [platform:gentoo]
+dev-libs/libyaml [platform:gentoo]
+dev-libs/openssl [platform:gentoo]
+virtual/libffi [platform:gentoo]
+dev-db/mariadb [platform:gentoo]
+
diff --git a/tools/test-requires-deb b/tools/test-requires-deb
deleted file mode 100644
index f170068167..0000000000
--- a/tools/test-requires-deb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-build-essential
-python-dev
-libxml2-dev
-libxslt1-dev
-libyaml-dev
-libssl-dev
-libffi-dev
-libmysqlclient-dev
-libpq-dev
diff --git a/tools/test-requires-rpm b/tools/test-requires-rpm
deleted file mode 100644
index 07caafb4ca..0000000000
--- a/tools/test-requires-rpm
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-gcc
-python-devel
-libxml2-devel
-libxslt-devel
-libyaml-devel
-openssl-devel
-libffi-devel
-mariadb-devel
-postgresql-devel
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 33e6751d8d..9ad149e0f0 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -133,6 +133,18 @@ basepython = python3
 deps = -r{toxinidir}/doc/requirements.txt
 commands = sphinx-build -a -E -W -d releasenotes/build/doctrees -b html releasenotes/source releasenotes/build/html
 
+[testenv:bindep]
+basepython = python3
+# Do not install any requirements. We want this to be fast and work even if
+# system dependencies are missing, since it's used to tell you what system
+# dependencies are missing! This also means that bindep must be installed
+# separately, outside of the requirements files, and develop mode disabled
+# explicitly to avoid unnecessarily installing the checked-out repo too (this
+# further relies on "tox.skipsdist = True" above).
+deps = bindep
+commands = bindep test
+usedevelop = False
+
 [testenv:lower-constraints]
 basepython = python3
 install_command = pip install {opts} {packages}