diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8eed3bf5..19994656 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ option ( enable-fpe-check "enable Floating Point Exception checks and debug mess
 option ( enable-portaudio "compile PortAudio support" off )
 option ( enable-profiling "profile the dsp code" off )
 option ( enable-trap-on-fpe "enable SIGFPE trap on Floating Point Exceptions" off )
+option ( enable-tests "build unit tests (implicitly disables BUILD_SHARED_LIBS and overrides DEFAULT_SOUNDFONT)" off )
 
 # Options enabled by default
 option ( enable-aufile "compile support for sound file output" on )
@@ -500,16 +501,27 @@ else ( enable-readline )
 endif ( enable-readline )
 
 
+if(enable-tests)
+    # manipulate some variables to setup a proper test env
+    set(DEFAULT_SOUNDFONT "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/sf2/VintageDreamsWaves-v2.sf2")
+    
+    # force to build a static lib, in order to bypass the visibility control, allowing us
+    # to test fluidsynths private/internal functions
+    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OFF)
+    
+    add_subdirectory ( test )
+endif(enable-tests)
+
+
 # General configuration file
 configure_file ( ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src/config.cmake
                  ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config.h )
 
+
 # Process subdirectories
 add_subdirectory ( src )
 add_subdirectory ( doc )
 
-add_subdirectory ( test )
-
 # pkg-config support
 set ( prefix "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}" )
 set ( exec_prefix "\${prefix}" )
diff --git a/cmake_admin/FluidUnitTest.cmake b/cmake_admin/FluidUnitTest.cmake
index 4ffbdeea..93416956 100644
--- a/cmake_admin/FluidUnitTest.cmake
+++ b/cmake_admin/FluidUnitTest.cmake
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@ macro ( ADD_FLUID_TEST _test )
     # use the local include path to look for fluidsynth.h, as we cannot be sure fluidsynth is already installed
     target_include_directories(${_test}
     PUBLIC
-    $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include>
-    $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include>)
+    $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include> # include auto generated headers
+    $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include> # include "normal" public (sub-)headers
+    $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src> # include private headers
+    )
 
     ADD_TEST(NAME ${_test} COMMAND ${_test})
 endmacro ( ADD_FLUID_TEST )
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index b8aecdca..8703c167 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@ project(fluidsynth-test)
 ENABLE_TESTING()
 include ( FluidUnitTest )
 
-
+## add unit tests here ##
 ADD_FLUID_TEST(test_sample_cache)
 
 
-# make test only runs tests, but doesnt build them
-add_custom_target(check COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND}  DEPENDS test_sample_cache)
+add_custom_target(check
+COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND} -C $<CONFIG> --verbose --output-on-failure
+DEPENDS
+test_sample_cache
+)
diff --git a/test/test_sample_cache.c b/test/test_sample_cache.c
index 07fbbd0a..6d3455d6 100644
--- a/test/test_sample_cache.c
+++ b/test/test_sample_cache.c
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ int main()
         
     TEST_ASSERT_NEQ(s[0], '\0');
     
+    printf("Attempt to open %s\n", s);
+    
     // load a sfont to synth1
     TEST_SUCCESS(fluid_synth_sfload(synth1, s, 1));