diff --git a/spawners/__init__.py b/spawners/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ef919810
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spawners/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+from .simplespawner import SimpleSpawner
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spawners/simplespawner.py b/spawners/simplespawner.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8df323c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spawners/simplespawner.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import os
+from traitlets import Unicode
+
+from jupyterhub.spawner import LocalProcessSpawner
+
+
+class SimpleLocalProcessSpawner(LocalProcessSpawner):
+    """
+    A version of LocalProcessSpawner that doesn't require users to exist on
+    the system beforehand.
+
+    Note: DO NOT USE THIS FOR PRODUCTION USE CASES! It is very insecure, and
+    provides absolutely no isolation between different users!
+    """
+
+    home_path_template = Unicode(
+        '/tmp/{userid}',
+        config=True,
+        help='Template to expand to set the user home. {userid} and {username} are expanded'
+    )
+
+    @property
+    def home_path(self):
+        return self.home_path_template.format(
+            userid=self.user.id,
+            username=self.user.name
+        )
+
+    def make_preexec_fn(self, name):
+        home = self.home_path
+        def preexec():
+            try:
+                os.makedirs(home, 0o755, exist_ok=True)
+                os.chdir(home)
+            except e:
+                print(e)
+        return preexec
+
+    def user_env(self, env):
+        env['USER'] = self.user.name
+        env['HOME'] = self.home_path
+        env['SHELL'] = '/bin/bash'
+        return env
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/testing/jupyterhub_config.py b/testing/jupyterhub_config.py
index 8cee48f9..84748415 100644
--- a/testing/jupyterhub_config.py
+++ b/testing/jupyterhub_config.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-from jupyterhub.auth import DummyAuthenticator
-
 """sample jupyterhub config file for testing
 
 configures jupyterhub with dummyauthenticator and simplespawner
@@ -7,14 +5,12 @@ to enable testing without administrative privileges.
 """
 
 c = get_config() # noqa
+
+from jupyterhub.auth import DummyAuthenticator
 c.JupyterHub.authenticator_class = DummyAuthenticator
 
 # Optionally set a global password that all users must use
 # c.DummyAuthenticator.password = "your_password"
 
-try:
-    from simplespawner import SimpleLocalProcessSpawner
-except ImportError:
-    print("simplespawner not available. Try: `pip install jupyterhub-simplespawner`")
-else:
-    c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = SimpleLocalProcessSpawner
+from jupyterhub.spawners import SimpleSpawner
+c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = SimpleSpawner