diff --git a/pynq/utils.py b/pynq/utils.py
index 0adc836eb1..d095072d58 100755
--- a/pynq/utils.py
+++ b/pynq/utils.py
@@ -747,7 +747,7 @@ def _create_code(num):
     return _function_text + call_line
 
 
-def run_notebook(notebook, root_path=".", timeout=30):
+def run_notebook(notebook, root_path=".", timeout=30, prerun=None):
     """Run a notebook in Jupyter
 
     This function will copy all of the files in ``root_path`` to a
@@ -766,6 +766,9 @@ def run_notebook(notebook, root_path=".", timeout=30):
         The root notebook folder (default ".")
     timeout : int
         Length of time to run the notebook in seconds (default 30)
+    prerun : function
+        Function to run prior to starting the notebook, takes the
+        temporary copy of root_path as a parameter
 
     """
     import nbformat
@@ -774,6 +777,8 @@ def run_notebook(notebook, root_path=".", timeout=30):
         workdir = os.path.join(td, 'work')
         notebook_dir = os.path.join(workdir, os.path.dirname(notebook))
         shutil.copytree(root_path, workdir)
+        if prerun is not None:
+            prerun(workdir)
         fullpath = os.path.join(workdir, notebook)
         with open(fullpath, "r") as f:
             nb = nbformat.read(f, as_version=4)