diff --git a/cirq-rigetti/cirq_rigetti/conftest.py b/cirq-rigetti/cirq_rigetti/conftest.py
index 3834fa063c3..da647f43ac8 100644
--- a/cirq-rigetti/cirq_rigetti/conftest.py
+++ b/cirq-rigetti/cirq_rigetti/conftest.py
@@ -30,27 +30,6 @@
 import sympy
 import numpy as np
 
-
-def pytest_collection_modifyitems(config, items):  # pragma: no cover
-    # do not skip integration tests if --rigetti-integration option passed
-    if config.getoption('--rigetti-integration'):
-        return
-    # do not skip integration tests rigetti_integration marker explicitly passed.
-    if 'rigetti_integration' in config.getoption('-m'):
-        return
-    # otherwise skip all tests marked "rigetti_integration".
-    skip_rigetti_integration = pytest.mark.skip(reason="need --rigetti-integration option to run")
-    for item in items:
-        if "rigetti_integration" in item.keywords:
-            item.add_marker(skip_rigetti_integration)
-
-
-def pytest_configure(config):
-    config.addinivalue_line(
-        "markers", "rigetti_integration: tests that connect to Quil compiler or QVM."
-    )
-
-
 T = TypeVar("T")
 
 
diff --git a/conftest.py b/conftest.py
index 885e0b55f7b..d61f5277b2b 100644
--- a/conftest.py
+++ b/conftest.py
@@ -22,3 +22,32 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser):
         default=False,
         help="run Rigetti integration tests",
     )
+    parser.addoption(
+        "--enable-slow-tests", action="store_true", default=False, help="run slow tests"
+    )
+
+
+def pytest_collection_modifyitems(config, items):
+    # Let pytest handle markexpr if present.  Make an exception for
+    # `pytest --co -m skip` so we can check test skipping rules below.
+    markexpr_words = frozenset(config.option.markexpr.split())
+    if not markexpr_words.issubset(["not", "skip"]):
+        return  # pragma: no cover
+
+    # our marks for tests to be skipped by default
+    skip_marks = {
+        "rigetti_integration": pytest.mark.skip(reason="need --rigetti-integration option to run"),
+        "slow": pytest.mark.skip(reason="need --enable-slow-tests option to run"),
+        "weekly": pytest.mark.skip(reason='only run by weekly automation'),
+    }
+
+    # drop skip_marks for tests enabled by command line options
+    if config.option.rigetti_integration:
+        del skip_marks["rigetti_integration"]  # pragma: no cover
+    if config.option.enable_slow_tests:
+        del skip_marks["slow"]  # pragma: no cover
+    skip_keywords = frozenset(skip_marks.keys())
+
+    for item in items:
+        for k in skip_keywords.intersection(item.keywords):
+            item.add_marker(skip_marks[k])
diff --git a/dev_tools/conftest.py b/dev_tools/conftest.py
index 7dbde3b3ef4..2e7bb5fc556 100644
--- a/dev_tools/conftest.py
+++ b/dev_tools/conftest.py
@@ -26,27 +26,6 @@
 from dev_tools.env_tools import create_virtual_env
 
 
-def pytest_configure(config):
-    config.addinivalue_line("markers", "slow: mark tests as slow")
-    config.addinivalue_line("markers", "weekly: mark tests as run only by weekly automation")
-
-
-def pytest_collection_modifyitems(config, items):
-    markexpr = config.option.markexpr
-    if markexpr:
-        return  # let pytest handle this
-
-    skip_slow_marker = pytest.mark.skip(reason='slow marker not selected')
-    for item in items:
-        if 'slow' in item.keywords:
-            item.add_marker(skip_slow_marker)
-
-    skip_weekly_marker = pytest.mark.skip(reason='only run by weekly automation')
-    for item in items:
-        if 'weekly' in item.keywords:
-            item.add_marker(skip_weekly_marker)
-
-
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
 def cloned_env(testrun_uid, worker_id):
     """Fixture to allow tests to run in a clean virtual env.
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 59af89effc1..1c57fe299b6 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -8,3 +8,8 @@ skip-magic-trailing-comma = true
 filterwarnings = [
     "ignore:Matplotlib is currently using agg:UserWarning",
 ]
+markers = [
+    "rigetti_integration: tests that connect to Quil compiler or QVM.",
+    "slow: slow tests that should be skipped by default.",
+    "weekly: tests to be run only by weekly CI automation.",
+]