diff --git a/unittest/commands/CMakeLists.txt b/unittest/commands/CMakeLists.txt
index 7a804820cb..62b3354a9e 100644
--- a/unittest/commands/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/unittest/commands/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,3 +22,10 @@ add_executable(test_reset_ids test_reset_ids.cpp)
 target_compile_definitions(test_reset_ids PRIVATE -DTEST_INPUT_FOLDER=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 target_link_libraries(test_reset_ids PRIVATE lammps GTest::GMock GTest::GTest)
 add_test(NAME ResetIDs COMMAND test_reset_ids WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
+
+if(BUILD_MPI)
+  add_executable(test_mpi_load_balancing test_mpi_load_balancing.cpp)
+  target_link_libraries(test_mpi_load_balancing PRIVATE lammps GTest::GTest GTest::GMock)
+  target_compile_definitions(test_mpi_load_balancing PRIVATE ${TEST_CONFIG_DEFS})
+  add_mpi_test(NAME MPILoadBalancing NUM_PROCS 4 COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:test_mpi_load_balancing>)
+endif()
diff --git a/unittest/commands/test_mpi_load_balancing.cpp b/unittest/commands/test_mpi_load_balancing.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0288933f8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittest/commands/test_mpi_load_balancing.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+// unit tests for checking LAMMPS MPI load balancing
+
+#define LAMMPS_LIB_MPI 1
+#include "lammps.h"
+#include "atom.h"
+#include "comm.h"
+#include "domain.h"
+#include "input.h"
+#include "timer.h"
+#include <string>
+
+#include "gmock/gmock.h"
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+
+#include "../testing/test_mpi_main.h"
+
+using ::testing::ExitedWithCode;
+using ::testing::HasSubstr;
+using ::testing::StartsWith;
+using ::testing::StrEq;
+
+namespace LAMMPS_NS
+{
+
+class MPILoadBalanceTest : public ::testing::Test {
+public:
+    void command(const std::string &line) { lmp->input->one(line); }
+
+protected:
+    const char *testbinary = "LAMMPSTest";
+    LAMMPS *lmp;
+
+    void SetUp() override
+    {
+        const char *args[] = {testbinary, "-log", "none", "-echo", "screen", "-nocite"};
+        char **argv        = (char **)args;
+        int argc           = sizeof(args) / sizeof(char *);
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::CaptureStdout();
+        lmp = new LAMMPS(argc, argv, MPI_COMM_WORLD);
+        InitSystem();
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::GetCapturedStdout();
+    }
+
+    virtual void InitSystem()
+    {
+        command("units           lj");
+        command("atom_style      atomic");
+        command("atom_modify     map yes");
+
+        command("region          box block 0 2 0 2 0 2");
+        command("create_box      1 box");
+        command("mass            1 1.0");
+
+
+        command("pair_style      lj/cut 2.5");
+        command("pair_coeff      1 1 1.0 1.0 2.5");
+
+        command("neighbor        0.3 bin");
+        command("neigh_modify    every 20 delay 0 check no");
+    }
+
+    void TearDown() override
+    {
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::CaptureStdout();
+        delete lmp;
+        lmp = nullptr;
+        if (!verbose) ::testing::internal::GetCapturedStdout();
+    }
+};
+
+TEST_F(MPILoadBalanceTest, grid_yz)
+{
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0 0 0");
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0 0 0.5");
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0 0.5 0");
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0 0.5 0.5");
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0.5 0 0");
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0.5 0 0.5");
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0.5 0.5 0");
+    command("create_atoms 1 single 0.5 0.5 0.5");
+    ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->natoms, 8);
+    ASSERT_EQ(lmp->comm->nprocs, 4);
+
+    switch(lmp->comm->me) {
+      case 0:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 8);
+        break;
+      case 1:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 0);
+        break;
+      case 2:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 0);
+        break;
+      case 3:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 0);
+        break;
+    }
+
+    command("balance 1 x uniform y 0.25 z uniform");
+
+    switch(lmp->comm->me) {
+      case 0:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 4);
+        break;
+      case 1:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 0);
+        break;
+      case 2:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 4);
+        break;
+      case 3:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 0);
+        break;
+    }
+
+    command("balance 1 x uniform y 0.25 z 0.25");
+
+    switch(lmp->comm->me) {
+      case 0:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 2);
+        break;
+      case 1:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 2);
+        break;
+      case 2:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 2);
+        break;
+      case 3:
+        ASSERT_EQ(lmp->atom->nlocal, 2);
+        break;
+    }
+}
+
+}