diff --git a/test/pylib/scylla_cluster.py b/test/pylib/scylla_cluster.py
index 1429d1449a..93f40709db 100644
--- a/test/pylib/scylla_cluster.py
+++ b/test/pylib/scylla_cluster.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ from io import BufferedWriter
 from test.pylib.host_registry import Host, HostRegistry
 from test.pylib.pool import Pool
 from test.pylib.rest_client import ScyllaRESTAPIClient, HTTPError
-from test.pylib.util import LogPrefixAdapter
+from test.pylib.util import LogPrefixAdapter, read_last_line
 from test.pylib.internal_types import ServerNum, IPAddress, HostID, ServerInfo
 import aiohttp
 import aiohttp.web
@@ -385,29 +385,6 @@ class ScyllaServer:
         sleep_interval = 0.1
         cql_up_state = CqlUpState.NOT_CONNECTED
 
-        def read_last_line(file_path: pathlib.Path):
-            block_size = 4 * 1024
-            file_size = os.stat(file_path).st_size
-            pos = file_size
-            blocks = []
-            linesep = os.linesep.encode()
-            with file_path.open('rb') as f:
-                linesep_index = -1
-                while pos > 0 and linesep_index == -1:
-                    next_pos = max(pos - block_size, 0)
-                    f.seek(next_pos, os.SEEK_SET)
-                    block = f.read(pos - next_pos)
-                    # ignore the last empty line if any
-                    if pos == file_size and block.endswith(linesep):
-                        block = block[:-len(linesep)]
-                    linesep_index = block.rfind(linesep)
-                    blocks.append(block)
-                    pos = next_pos
-            if linesep_index != -1:
-                blocks[-1] = block[linesep_index + len(linesep):]
-            blocks.reverse()
-            return b''.join(blocks).decode()
-
         def report_error(message: str):
             message += f", server_id {self.server_id}, IP {self.ip_addr}, workdir {self.workdir.name}"
             message += f", host_id {self.host_id if hasattr(self, 'host_id') else '<missing>'}"
diff --git a/test/pylib/util.py b/test/pylib/util.py
index a426218e8d..e3e462adaa 100644
--- a/test/pylib/util.py
+++ b/test/pylib/util.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import time
 import asyncio
 import logging
+import pathlib
+import os
 
 from typing import Callable, Awaitable, Optional, TypeVar, Generic
 
@@ -76,5 +78,21 @@ async def wait_for_cql_and_get_hosts(cql: Session, servers: list[ServerInfo], de
 
     return hosts
 
+def read_last_line(file_path: pathlib.Path, max_line_bytes = 512):
+    file_size = os.stat(file_path).st_size
+    with file_path.open('rb') as f:
+        f.seek(max(0, file_size - max_line_bytes), os.SEEK_SET)
+        line_bytes = f.read()
+    line_str = line_bytes.decode('utf-8', errors='ignore')
+    linesep = os.linesep
+    if line_str.endswith(linesep):
+        line_str = line_str[:-len(linesep)]
+    linesep_index = line_str.rfind(linesep)
+    if linesep_index != -1:
+        line_str = line_str[linesep_index + len(linesep):]
+    elif file_size > max_line_bytes:
+        line_str = '...' + line_str
+    return line_str
+
 
 unique_name.last_ms = 0
diff --git a/test/pylib_test/__init__.py b/test/pylib_test/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/test/pylib_test/pytest.ini b/test/pylib_test/pytest.ini
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1b586bd36f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pylib_test/pytest.ini
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# Pytest configuration file. If we don't have one in this directory,
+# pytest will look for one in our ancestor directories, and may find
+# something irrelevant. So we should have one here, even if empty.
+[pytest]
+asyncio_mode = auto
+
+log_cli = true
+log_format = %(asctime)s.%(msecs)03d %(levelname)s> %(message)s
+log_date_format = %H:%M:%S
diff --git a/test/pylib_test/run b/test/pylib_test/run
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..0b4ac6762a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pylib_test/run
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# Use the run.py library from ../cql-pytest:
+import sys
+sys.path.insert(1, sys.path[0] + '/../cql-pytest')
+import run
+
+success = run.run_pytest(sys.path[0], sys.argv[1:])
+
+run.summary = 'Pylib tests pass' if success else 'Pylib tests failure'
+
+exit(0 if success else 1)
diff --git a/test/pylib_test/suite.yaml b/test/pylib_test/suite.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8919604e66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pylib_test/suite.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+type: Run
diff --git a/test/pylib_test/test_util.py b/test/pylib_test/test_util.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8c14186f01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pylib_test/test_util.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+import os
+import tempfile
+import pathlib
+from test.pylib.util import read_last_line
+
+def test_read_last_line():
+    test_cases = [
+        (b"This is the first line.\nThis is the second line.\nThis is the third line.", 'This is the third line.'),
+        (b"This is another file.\nIt has a few lines.\nThe last line is what we're interested in.", 'The last line is what we\'re interested in.'),
+        (b"This file has only one line.", 'This file has only one line.'),
+        (b"\n", ""),
+        (b"\n\n\n", ""),
+        (b"", ""),
+        (b"abc\n", 'abc'),
+        (b"abc", '...bc', 2),
+        (b"lalala\nbububu", "bububu"),
+        (b"line1\nline2\nline3\n", "...line3", 6),
+        (b"line1\nline2\nline3", "line3", 6),
+        (b"line1\nline2\nline3\n", "line3", 7),
+        (b"\xbe\xbe\xbe\xbebububu\n", "bububu")
+    ]
+    for test_case in test_cases:
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(dir=os.getenv('TMPDIR', '/tmp')) as f:
+            f.write(test_case[0])
+            f.flush()
+            file_path = pathlib.Path(f.name)
+            actual = read_last_line(file_path, test_case[2]) if len(test_case) == 3 else read_last_line(file_path)
+            assert(actual == test_case[1])