diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4910007..c4f7a8f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   * Remove the `step` alias for `it` since that's meant for use with `try`.
 * Remove the `include` global function.
 * Remove `HACK_NO_XPCALL`. With recent changes to the definition of xpcall, this is no longer necessary. Since people are still using it, it will now print out a warning asking them to delete that call instead.
+* Guarantee that `init.spec.lua` will run before any `it` or `describe` blocks in the folder under it.
 * Major changes to the internals of test planning.
   * The major visible change is that `describe` and `it` blocks with duplicate descriptions will now not overwrite the earlier copies of those nodes.
   * Duplicate `it` nodes within one `describe` will raise an error.
diff --git a/src/TestPlan.lua b/src/TestPlan.lua
index 6529ec2..ed31f47 100644
--- a/src/TestPlan.lua
+++ b/src/TestPlan.lua
@@ -25,9 +25,6 @@ local function newEnvironment(currentNode, extraEnvironment)
 	local function addChild(phrase, callback, nodeType, nodeModifier)
 		local node = currentNode:addChild(phrase, nodeType, nodeModifier)
 		node.callback = callback
-		if nodeType == TestEnum.NodeType.Describe then
-			node:expand()
-		end
 		return node
 	end
 
@@ -177,10 +174,14 @@ function TestNode:getFullName()
 end
 
 --[[
-	Expand a node by setting its callback environment and then calling it. Any
-	further it and describe calls within the callback will be added to the tree.
+	Expand a node by setting its callback environment and then calling it. Only
+	expands this one node.
 ]]
 function TestNode:expand()
+	if not self.callback then
+		return
+	end
+
 	local originalEnv = getfenv(self.callback)
 	local callbackEnv = setmetatable({}, { __index = originalEnv })
 	for key, value in pairs(self.environment) do
@@ -245,7 +246,17 @@ function TestPlan:addRoot(path, method)
 	end
 
 	curNode.callback = method
-	curNode:expand()
+end
+
+--[[
+	Expands all describe nodes, leaving the plan in a runnable state.
+]]
+function TestPlan:finalize()
+	self:visitAllNodes(function(node)
+		if node.type == TestEnum.NodeType.Describe then
+			node:expand()
+		end
+	end)
 end
 
 --[[
diff --git a/src/TestPlanner.lua b/src/TestPlanner.lua
index 4b9772a..484157d 100644
--- a/src/TestPlanner.lua
+++ b/src/TestPlanner.lua
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ function TestPlanner.createPlan(specFunctions, testNamePattern, extraEnvironment
 		plan:addRoot(module.path, module.method)
 	end
 
+	plan:finalize()
 	return plan
 end
 
diff --git a/tests/expandOrder.lua b/tests/expandOrder.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2dbf01e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/expandOrder.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+local TestEZ = require(script.Parent.Parent.TestEZ)
+
+return {
+	["init.spec.lua is run before children are expanded"] = function()
+		local initialized = false
+
+		local plan = TestEZ.TestPlanner.createPlan({
+			{
+				method = function()
+					assert(initialized, "init.spec was not called before bar.spec")
+				end,
+				path = {'bar.spec', 'foo'}
+			},
+			{
+				method = function()
+					initialized = true
+				end,
+				path = {'foo'}
+			},
+		})
+
+		local results = TestEZ.TestRunner.runPlan(plan)
+		assert(#results.errors == 0, "init test failed: " .. tostring(results.errors[1]))
+	end,
+	["init.spec.lua afterAll can correctly undo changes"] = function()
+		local initialized = false
+
+		-- luacheck: globals it
+		local plan = TestEZ.TestPlanner.createPlan({
+			{
+				method = function()
+					print("Ad")
+					it("A", function()
+						print("Ai")
+						assert(not initialized, "initialized was true in foo/a.spec")
+					end)
+				end,
+				path = {'a.spec', 'foo'}
+			},
+			{
+				method = function()
+					print("Bd")
+					it("B", function()
+						print("Bi")
+						assert(initialized, "initialized was false in foo/bar/b.spec")
+					end)
+				end,
+				path = {'b.spec', 'bar', 'foo'}
+			},
+			{
+				method = function()
+					print("Init")
+					initialized = true
+
+					-- luacheck: globals afterAll
+					afterAll(function()
+						print("After")
+						initialized = false
+					end)
+				end,
+				path = {'bar', 'foo'}
+			},
+			{
+				method = function()
+					print("Cd")
+					it("C", function()
+						print("Ci")
+						assert(initialized, "initialized was false in foo/bar/c.spec")
+					end)
+				end,
+				path = {'c.spec', 'bar', 'foo'}
+			},
+			{
+				method = function()
+					print("Dd")
+					it("D", function()
+						print("Di")
+						assert(not initialized, "initialized was true in foo/d.spec")
+					end)
+				end,
+				path = {'d.spec', 'foo'}
+			},
+		})
+
+		local results = TestEZ.TestRunner.runPlan(plan)
+		assert(#results.errors == 0, "init test failed:\n" ..
+			table.concat(results.errors, "\n"))
+	end,
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/planning/init.spec.lua b/tests/planning/init.spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eef2433
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/planning/init.spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+-- This should be added to the "planning" node of the tree instead of creating
+-- a new node.
+return function()
+end