diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 9b7bce50..1c14aa19 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -289,10 +289,10 @@ macro_rules! wrap_pymodule {
 /// # Example
 /// ```
 /// use pyo3::{prelude::*, py_run, types::PyList};
-/// let gil = Python::acquire_gil();
-/// let py = gil.python();
-/// let list = PyList::new(py, &[1, 2, 3]);
-/// py_run!(py, list, "assert list == [1, 2, 3]");
+/// Python::with_gil(|py| {
+///     let list = PyList::new(py, &[1, 2, 3]);
+///     py_run!(py, list, "assert list == [1, 2, 3]");
+/// });
 /// ```
 ///
 /// You can use this macro to test pyfunctions or pyclasses quickly.
@@ -320,15 +320,32 @@ macro_rules! wrap_pymodule {
 ///         (self.hour, self.minute, self.second)
 ///     }
 /// }
-/// let gil = Python::acquire_gil();
-/// let py = gil.python();
-/// let time = PyCell::new(py, Time {hour: 8, minute: 43, second: 16}).unwrap();
-/// let time_as_tuple = (8, 43, 16);
-/// py_run!(py, time time_as_tuple, r#"
-/// assert time.hour == 8
-/// assert time.repl_japanese() == "8時43分16秒"
-/// assert time.as_tuple() == time_as_tuple
-/// "#);
+/// Python::with_gil(|py| {
+///     let time = PyCell::new(py, Time {hour: 8, minute: 43, second: 16}).unwrap();
+///     let time_as_tuple = (8, 43, 16);
+///     py_run!(py, time time_as_tuple, r#"
+///         assert time.hour == 8
+///         assert time.repl_japanese() == "8時43分16秒"
+///         assert time.as_tuple() == time_as_tuple
+///     "#);
+/// });
+/// ```
+///
+/// If you need to prepare the `locals` dict by yourself, you can pass it by `*locals`.
+///
+/// ```
+/// # use pyo3::prelude::*;
+/// #[pyclass]
+/// struct MyClass {}
+/// #[pymethods]
+/// impl MyClass {
+///     #[new]
+///     fn new() -> Self { MyClass {} }
+/// }
+/// Python::with_gil(|py| {
+///    let locals = [("C", py.get_type::<MyClass>())];
+///    pyo3::py_run!(py, *locals, "c = C()");
+/// });
 /// ```
 ///
 /// **Note**
@@ -345,6 +362,12 @@ macro_rules! py_run {
     ($py:expr, $($val:ident)+, $code:expr) => {{
         $crate::py_run_impl!($py, $($val)+, &$crate::unindent::unindent($code))
     }};
+    ($py:expr, *$dict:expr, $code:literal) => {{
+        $crate::py_run_impl!($py, *$dict, $crate::indoc::indoc!($code))
+    }};
+    ($py:expr, *$dict:expr, $code:expr) => {{
+        $crate::py_run_impl!($py, *$dict, &$crate::unindent::unindent($code))
+    }};
 }
 
 #[macro_export]
@@ -355,8 +378,10 @@ macro_rules! py_run_impl {
         use $crate::types::IntoPyDict;
         use $crate::ToPyObject;
         let d = [$((stringify!($val), $val.to_object($py)),)+].into_py_dict($py);
-
-        if let Err(e) = $py.run($code, None, Some(d)) {
+        $crate::py_run_impl!($py, *d, $code)
+    }};
+    ($py:expr, *$dict:expr, $code:expr) => {{
+        if let Err(e) = $py.run($code, None, Some($dict)) {
             e.print($py);
             // So when this c api function the last line called printed the error to stderr,
             // the output is only written into a buffer which is never flushed because we
diff --git a/tests/common.rs b/tests/common.rs
index c110f5d4..75a246a9 100644
--- a/tests/common.rs
+++ b/tests/common.rs
@@ -1,37 +1,43 @@
-//! Useful tips for writing tests:
-//!  - Tests are run in parallel; There's still a race condition in test_owned with some other test
-//!  - You need to use flush=True to get any output from print
+//! Some common macros for tests
 
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! py_assert {
-    ($py:expr, $val:ident, $assertion:expr) => {
-        pyo3::py_run!($py, $val, concat!("assert ", $assertion))
+    ($py:expr, $($val:ident)+, $assertion:literal) => {
+        pyo3::py_run!($py, $($val)+, concat!("assert ", $assertion))
+    };
+    ($py:expr, *$dict:expr, $assertion:literal) => {
+        pyo3::py_run!($py, *$dict, concat!("assert ", $assertion))
     };
 }
 
 #[macro_export]
 macro_rules! py_expect_exception {
-    ($py:expr, $val:ident, $code:expr, $err:ident) => {{
+    // Case1: idents & no err_msg
+    ($py:expr, $($val:ident)+, $code:expr, $err:ident) => {{
         use pyo3::types::IntoPyDict;
-        let d = [(stringify!($val), &$val)].into_py_dict($py);
-
-        let res = $py.run($code, None, Some(d));
+        let d = [$((stringify!($val), $val.to_object($py)),)+].into_py_dict($py);
+        py_expect_exception!($py, *d, $code, $err)
+    }};
+    // Case2: dict & no err_msg
+    ($py:expr, *$dict:expr, $code:expr, $err:ident) => {{
+        let res = $py.run($code, None, Some($dict));
         let err = res.expect_err(&format!("Did not raise {}", stringify!($err)));
         if !err.matches($py, $py.get_type::<pyo3::exceptions::$err>()) {
             panic!("Expected {} but got {:?}", stringify!($err), err)
         }
         err
     }};
-    ($py:expr, $val:ident, $code:expr, $err:ident, $err_msg:expr) => {{
-        let err = py_expect_exception!($py, $val, $code, $err);
-        assert_eq!(
-            err.instance($py)
-                .str()
-                .expect("error str() failed")
-                .to_str()
-                .expect("message was not valid utf8"),
-            $err_msg
-        );
+    // Case3: idents & err_msg
+    ($py:expr, $($val:ident)+, $code:expr, $err:ident, $err_msg:literal) => {{
+        let err = py_expect_exception!($py, $($val)+, $code, $err);
+        // Suppose that the error message looks like 'TypeError: ~'
+        assert_eq!(format!("Py{}", err), concat!(stringify!($err), ": ", $err_msg));
+        err
+    }};
+    // Case4: dict & err_msg
+    ($py:expr, *$dict:expr, $code:expr, $err:ident, $err_msg:literal) => {{
+        let err = py_expect_exception!($py, *$dict, $code, $err);
+        assert_eq!(format!("Py{}", err), concat!(stringify!($err), ": ", $err_msg));
         err
     }};
 }