diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a2fef38..81fb185 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ### Added
 
+- added test to check python codeblocks in README keep working as code changes
+  [\#38](https://github.com/mllam/weather-model-graphs/pull/38) @leifdenby
+
 - Add coords_crs and graph_crs arguments to allow for using lat-lons coordinates
   or other CRSs as input. These are then converted to the specific CRS used when
   constructing the graph.
diff --git a/tests/test_readme.py b/tests/test_readme.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d06885
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_readme.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pytest
+
+
+def _parse_readme_examples():
+    lines = open(Path(__file__).parent.parent / "README.md").read().splitlines()
+
+    # use regex to find all python code blocks
+    code_blocks = re.findall(r"```python(.*?)```", "\n".join(lines), re.DOTALL)
+
+    return code_blocks
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("codeblock_example", _parse_readme_examples())
+def test_readme_example(codeblock_example: str):
+    """
+    Check that execution of the python code block in the README does not raise an exception.
+    """
+    exec(codeblock_example)