diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3306c9dd13..9182d5c826 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,4 +13,5 @@ Distribution/list_smargo-*
 webif/is_defined.txt
 
 # Testing program
-tests
+tests.bin
+tests.bin.debug
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index db2dece86f..75a3c4cb60 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ SHELL = /bin/sh
 
 .SUFFIXES:
 .SUFFIXES: .o .c
-.PHONY: all help README.build README.config simple default debug config menuconfig allyesconfig allnoconfig defconfig clean distclean
+.PHONY: all tests help README.build README.config simple default debug config menuconfig allyesconfig allnoconfig defconfig clean distclean
 
 VER     := $(shell ./config.sh --oscam-version)
 SVN_REV := $(shell ./config.sh --oscam-revision)
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ OBJDIR := $(BUILD_DIR)/$(TARGET)
 -include $(OBJDIR)/config.mak
 
 OSCAM_BIN := $(BINDIR)/oscam-$(VER)$(SVN_REV)-$(subst cygwin,cygwin.exe,$(TARGET))
+TESTS_BIN := tests.bin
 LIST_SMARGO_BIN := $(BINDIR)/list_smargo-$(VER)$(SVN_REV)-$(subst cygwin,cygwin.exe,$(TARGET))
 
 # Build list_smargo-.... only when WITH_LIBUSB build is requested.
@@ -322,6 +323,10 @@ SRC-y += oscam-work.c
 SRC-y += oscam.c
 # config.c is automatically generated by config.sh in OBJDIR
 SRC-y += config.c
+ifdef BUILD_TESTS
+SRC-y += tests.c
+override STD_DEFS += -DBUILD_TESTS=1
+endif
 
 SRC := $(SRC-y)
 OBJ := $(addprefix $(OBJDIR)/,$(subst .c,.o,$(SRC)))
@@ -384,15 +389,13 @@ $(OBJDIR)/%.o: %.c Makefile
 
 -include $(subst .o,.d,$(OBJ))
 
-TESTS_SRC += oscam-array.c
-TESTS_SRC += oscam-conf-mk.c
-TESTS_SRC += oscam-conf-chk.c
-TESTS_SRC += oscam-string.c
-TESTS_SRC += oscam-llist.c
-
-tests: Makefile globals.h $(subst .c,.h,$(TESTS_SRC)) $(TESTS_SRC) tests.c
-	$(SAY) "BUILD	$@"
-	$(Q)$(CC) $(STD_DEFS) $(CC_OPTS) $(CC_WARN) $(CFLAGS) $(LDFLAGS) $(TESTS_SRC) tests.c -o $@
+tests:
+	@-$(MAKE) --no-print-directory BUILD_TESTS=1 OSCAM_BIN=$(TESTS_BIN)
+	@-touch oscam.c
+# The above is really hideous hack :-) If we don't force oscam.c recompilation
+# after we've build the tests binary, the next "normal" compilation would fail
+# because there would be no run_tests() function. So the touch is there to
+# ensure oscam.c would be recompiled.
 
 config:
 	$(SHELL) ./config.sh --gui
@@ -412,7 +415,7 @@ defconfig:
 	@-$(SHELL) ./config.sh --restore
 
 clean:
-	@-for FILE in $(BUILD_DIR)/* tests; do \
+	@-for FILE in $(BUILD_DIR)/* $(TESTS_BIN) $(TESTS_BIN).debug; do \
 		echo "RM	$$FILE"; \
 		rm -rf $$FILE; \
 	done
@@ -688,7 +691,7 @@ OSCam build system documentation\n\
     make static-ssl    - Builds OSCam with SSL support linked statically\n\
 \n\
  Developer targets:\n\
-    make tests         - Builds 'tests' binary\n\
+    make tests         - Builds '$(TESTS_BIN)' binary\n\
 \n\
  Examples:\n\
    Build OSCam for SH4 (the compilers are in the path):\n\
diff --git a/README.build b/README.build
index aa87669756..60db0e5cfb 100644
--- a/README.build
+++ b/README.build
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ OSCam build system documentation
     make static-ssl    - Builds OSCam with SSL support linked statically
 
  Developer targets:
-    make tests         - Builds 'tests' binary
+    make tests         - Builds 'tests.bin' binary
 
  Examples:
    Build OSCam for SH4 (the compilers are in the path):
diff --git a/oscam.c b/oscam.c
index bd2c80c01d..37bac7bcf9 100644
--- a/oscam.c
+++ b/oscam.c
@@ -1351,8 +1351,20 @@ static void detect_valgrind(void)
 #endif
 }
 
+#ifdef BUILD_TESTS
+extern void run_all_tests(void);
+__attribute__ ((noreturn)) static void run_tests(void)
+{
+	run_all_tests();
+	exit(0);
+}
+#else
+static void run_tests(void) { }
+#endif
+
 int32_t main(int32_t argc, char *argv[])
 {
+	run_tests();
 	int32_t i, j;
 	prog_name = argv[0];
 	struct timespec start_ts;
diff --git a/tests.c b/tests.c
index 5f2e0c4be1..b1aff97231 100644
--- a/tests.c
+++ b/tests.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static void run_parser_test(struct test_type *t)
 	t->clear_fn(t->data_c);
 }
 
-int main(void)
+void run_all_tests(void)
 {
 	ECM_WHITELIST ecm_whitelist, ecm_whitelist_c;
 	struct test_type ecm_whitelist_test =
@@ -234,6 +234,4 @@ int main(void)
 		},
 	};
 	run_parser_test(&ftab_test);
-
-	return 0;
 }