diff --git a/common/action_unittest.cc b/common/action_unittest.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dcdce17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/action_unittest.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+//
+// Copyright (C) 2010 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+//
+
+#include "update_engine/common/action.h"
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+#include <string>
+#include "update_engine/common/action_processor.h"
+
+using std::string;
+
+namespace chromeos_update_engine {
+
+using chromeos_update_engine::ActionPipe;
+
+class ActionTestAction;
+
+template<>
+class ActionTraits<ActionTestAction> {
+ public:
+  typedef string OutputObjectType;
+  typedef string InputObjectType;
+};
+
+// This is a simple Action class for testing.
+class ActionTestAction : public Action<ActionTestAction> {
+ public:
+  typedef string InputObjectType;
+  typedef string OutputObjectType;
+  ActionPipe<string>* in_pipe() { return in_pipe_.get(); }
+  ActionPipe<string>* out_pipe() { return out_pipe_.get(); }
+  ActionProcessor* processor() { return processor_; }
+  void PerformAction() {}
+  void CompleteAction() {
+    ASSERT_TRUE(processor());
+    processor()->ActionComplete(this, ErrorCode::kSuccess);
+  }
+  string Type() const { return "ActionTestAction"; }
+};
+
+class ActionTest : public ::testing::Test { };
+
+// This test creates two simple Actions and sends a message via an ActionPipe
+// from one to the other.
+TEST(ActionTest, SimpleTest) {
+  ActionTestAction action;
+
+  EXPECT_FALSE(action.in_pipe());
+  EXPECT_FALSE(action.out_pipe());
+  EXPECT_FALSE(action.processor());
+  EXPECT_FALSE(action.IsRunning());
+
+  ActionProcessor action_processor;
+  action_processor.EnqueueAction(&action);
+  EXPECT_EQ(&action_processor, action.processor());
+
+  action_processor.StartProcessing();
+  EXPECT_TRUE(action.IsRunning());
+  action.CompleteAction();
+  EXPECT_FALSE(action.IsRunning());
+}
+
+}  // namespace chromeos_update_engine