diff --git a/checkstyle-tester/diff.groovy b/checkstyle-tester/diff.groovy
index 5524949d..0d6874dc 100644
--- a/checkstyle-tester/diff.groovy
+++ b/checkstyle-tester/diff.groovy
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import static java.lang.System.err
 import static java.nio.file.StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING
+import org.yaml.snakeyaml.Yaml
 
 import java.nio.file.Files
 import java.nio.file.Paths
@@ -77,6 +78,8 @@ def getCliOptions(args) {
             + ' \'diff\' or \'single\'. (optional, default is \'diff\')')
         xm(longOpt: 'extraMvnRegressionOptions', args: 1, required: false, 'Extra arguments to pass to Maven' \
             + 'for Checkstyle Regression run (optional, ex: -Dmaven.prop=true)')
+        p(longOpt: 'projects', args: 1, required: false, argName: 'projects',
+            'Comma-separated list of projects to include (optional)')
     }
     return cli.parse(args)
 }
@@ -246,6 +249,29 @@ def launchCheckstyleReport(cfg) {
     return reportInfo
 }
 
+def parseProjects(listOfProjectsFile, allowExcludes, includedProjects) {
+    def projects = []
+    def yaml = new Yaml()
+    def input = new File(listOfProjectsFile).text
+    def data = yaml.load(input)
+
+    data.projects.each { project ->
+        project.each { name, details ->
+            if (includedProjects.contains(name) && details.enabled != false) {
+                def projectConfig = new ProjectConfig(
+                    repoName: name,
+                    repoType: details.type,
+                    repoUrl: details.url,
+                    commitId: details.commit_id,
+                    excludes: allowExcludes ? details.excludes?.join(",") : ""
+                )
+                projects << projectConfig
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return projects
+}
+
 def generateCheckstyleReport(cfg) {
     println 'Testing Checkstyle started'
 
@@ -255,62 +281,29 @@ def generateCheckstyleReport(cfg) {
     def reportsDir = 'reports'
     makeWorkDirsIfNotExist(srcDir, reposDir, reportsDir)
 
-    final repoNameParamNo = 0
-    final repoTypeParamNo = 1
-    final repoURLParamNo = 2
-    final repoCommitIDParamNo = 3
-    final repoExcludesParamNo = 4
-    final fullParamListSize = 5
-
-    def checkstyleConfig = cfg.checkstyleCfg
-    def checkstyleVersion = cfg.checkstyleVersion
-    def allowExcludes = cfg.allowExcludes
-    def useShallowClone = cfg.useShallowClone
-    def listOfProjectsFile = new File(cfg.listOfProjects)
-    def projects = listOfProjectsFile.readLines()
-    def extraMvnRegressionOptions = cfg.extraMvnRegressionOptions
-
-    projects.each {
-        project ->
-            if (!project.startsWith('#') && !project.isEmpty()) {
-                def params = project.split('\\|', -1)
-                if (params.length < fullParamListSize) {
-                    throw new InvalidPropertiesFormatException("Error: line '$project' " +
-                        "in file '$listOfProjectsFile.name' should have $fullParamListSize " +
-                        "pipe-delimited sections!")
-                }
+    def projects = parseProjects(cfg.listOfProjects, cfg.allowExcludes, cfg.includedProjects)
 
-                def repoName = params[repoNameParamNo]
-                def repoType = params[repoTypeParamNo]
-                def repoUrl = params[repoURLParamNo]
-                def commitId = params[repoCommitIDParamNo]
-
-                def excludes = ""
-                if (allowExcludes) {
-                    excludes = params[repoExcludesParamNo]
-                }
-
-                deleteDir(srcDir)
-                if (repoType == 'local') {
-                    copyDir(repoUrl, getOsSpecificPath("$srcDir", "$repoName"))
-                } else {
-                    if (useShallowClone && !isGitSha(commitId)) {
-                        shallowCloneRepository(repoName, repoType, repoUrl, commitId, reposDir)
-                    } else {
-                        cloneRepository(repoName, repoType, repoUrl, commitId, reposDir)
-                    }
-                    copyDir(getOsSpecificPath("$reposDir", "$repoName"), getOsSpecificPath("$srcDir", "$repoName"))
-                }
-                runMavenExecution(srcDir, excludes, checkstyleConfig,
-                    checkstyleVersion, extraMvnRegressionOptions)
-                def repoPath = repoUrl
-                if (repoType != 'local') {
-                    repoPath = new File(getOsSpecificPath("$reposDir", "$repoName")).absolutePath
-                }
-                postProcessCheckstyleReport(targetDir, repoName, repoPath)
-                deleteDir(getOsSpecificPath("$srcDir", "$repoName"))
-                moveDir(targetDir, getOsSpecificPath("$reportsDir", "$repoName"))
+    projects.each { ProjectConfig projectConfig ->
+        deleteDir(srcDir)
+        if (projectConfig.repoType == 'local') {
+            copyDir(projectConfig.repoUrl, getOsSpecificPath("$srcDir", projectConfig.repoName))
+        } else {
+            if (cfg.useShallowClone && !isGitSha(projectConfig.commitId)) {
+                shallowCloneRepository(projectConfig.repoName, projectConfig.repoType, projectConfig.repoUrl, projectConfig.commitId, reposDir)
+            } else {
+                cloneRepository(projectConfig.repoName, projectConfig.repoType, projectConfig.repoUrl, projectConfig.commitId, reposDir)
             }
+            copyDir(getOsSpecificPath("$reposDir", projectConfig.repoName), getOsSpecificPath("$srcDir", projectConfig.repoName))
+        }
+        runMavenExecution(srcDir, projectConfig.excludes, cfg.checkstyleCfg,
+            cfg.checkstyleVersion, cfg.extraMvnRegressionOptions)
+        def repoPath = projectConfig.repoUrl
+        if (projectConfig.repoType != 'local') {
+            repoPath = new File(getOsSpecificPath("$reposDir", projectConfig.repoName)).absolutePath
+        }
+        postProcessCheckstyleReport(targetDir, projectConfig.repoName, repoPath)
+        deleteDir(getOsSpecificPath("$srcDir", projectConfig.repoName))
+        moveDir(targetDir, getOsSpecificPath("$reportsDir", projectConfig.repoName))
     }
 
     // restore empty_file to make src directory tracked by git
@@ -793,6 +786,7 @@ class Config {
     def shortFilePaths
     def listOfProjects
     def mode
+    def includedProjects
 
     def baseBranch
     def patchBranch
@@ -823,6 +817,7 @@ class Config {
         shortFilePaths = cliOptions.shortFilePaths
         listOfProjects = cliOptions.listOfProjects
         extraMvnRegressionOptions = cliOptions.extraMvnRegressionOptions
+        includedProjects = cliOptions.projects?.split(',')
 
         checkstyleVersion = cliOptions.checkstyleVersion
         allowExcludes = cliOptions.allowExcludes
@@ -876,6 +871,7 @@ class Config {
             extraMvnRegressionOptions: extraMvnRegressionOptions,
             allowExcludes:allowExcludes,
             useShallowClone: useShallowClone,
+            includedProjects: includedProjects,
         ]
     }
 
@@ -889,6 +885,7 @@ class Config {
             extraMvnRegressionOptions: extraMvnRegressionOptions,
             allowExcludes: allowExcludes,
             useShallowClone: useShallowClone,
+            includedProjects: includedProjects,
         ]
     }
 
@@ -903,6 +900,7 @@ class Config {
             mode: mode,
             allowExcludes: allowExcludes,
             useShallowClone: useShallowClone,
+            includedProjects: includedProjects,
         ]
     }
 }
@@ -920,3 +918,19 @@ class CheckstyleReportInfo {
         this.commitTime = commitTime
     }
 }
+
+class ProjectConfig {
+    String repoName
+    String repoType
+    String repoUrl
+    String commitId
+    String excludes
+
+    ProjectConfig(Map config) {
+        this.repoName = config.repoName
+        this.repoType = config.repoType
+        this.repoUrl = config.repoUrl
+        this.commitId = config.commitId
+        this.excludes = config.excludes
+    }
+}