diff --git a/core/commands/commands_test.go b/core/commands/commands_test.go
index a87ad9675c4..13e22e574cc 100644
--- a/core/commands/commands_test.go
+++ b/core/commands/commands_test.go
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ func TestCommands(t *testing.T) {
 		"/multibase",
 		"/multibase/decode",
 		"/multibase/encode",
+		"/multibase/list",
 		"/name",
 		"/name/publish",
 		"/name/pubsub",
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0295-multibase.sh b/test/sharness/t0295-multibase.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..f428d8daf70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/sharness/t0295-multibase.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+test_description="Test multibase commands"
+
+. lib/test-lib.sh
+
+# note: all "ipfs multibase" commands should work without requiring a repo
+
+cat <<EOF > bases_expect
+      0  identity
+0    48  base2
+b    98  base32
+B    66  base32upper
+c    99  base32pad
+C    67  base32padupper
+f   102  base16
+F    70  base16upper
+k   107  base36
+K    75  base36upper
+m   109  base64
+M    77  base64pad
+t   116  base32hexpad
+T    84  base32hexpadupper
+u   117  base64url
+U    85  base64urlpad
+v   118  base32hex
+V    86  base32hexupper
+z   122  base58btc
+Z    90  base58flickr
+EOF
+
+# TODO: expose same cmd under multibase?
+test_expect_success "multibase list" '
+  cut -c 10- bases_expect > expect &&
+  ipfs multibase list > actual &&
+  test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase encode works (stdin)" '
+  echo -n uaGVsbG8 > expected &&
+  echo -n hello | ipfs multibase encode > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase encode works (file)" '
+  echo -n hello > file &&
+  echo -n uaGVsbG8 > expected &&
+  ipfs multibase encode ./file > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase encode -b (custom base)" '
+  echo -n f68656c6c6f > expected &&
+  echo -n hello | ipfs multibase encode -b base16 > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase decode works (stdin)" '
+  echo -n hello > expected &&
+  echo -n uaGVsbG8 | ipfs multibase decode > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase decode works (file)" '
+  echo -n uaGVsbG8 > file &&
+  echo -n hello > expected &&
+  ipfs multibase decode ./file > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase encode+decode roundtrip" '
+  echo -n hello > expected &&
+  cat expected | ipfs multibase encode -b base64 | ipfs multibase decode > actual &&
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase error on unknown multibase prefix" '
+  echo "Error: failed to decode multibase: selected encoding not supported" > expected &&
+  echo -n ę-that-should-do-the-trick | ipfs multibase decode 2> actual ;
+  test_cmp actual expected
+'
+
+test_expect_success "multibase error on a character outside of the base" "
+  echo \"Error: failed to decode multibase: encoding/hex: invalid byte: U+007A 'z'\" > expected &&
+  echo -n f6c6f6cz | ipfs multibase decode 2> actual ;
+  test_cmp actual expected
+"
+
+test_done