diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 0b426cafd98157ae213df2206280eca91729dd8a..908440a71a333485a3c6fdf6a36869e182c0ecc6 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -35,3 +35,10 @@ target_compile_features(
         PUBLIC
                 cxx_std_14
 )
+
+# testing
+OPTION(EVALHYD_BUILD_TEST "configure and compile tests" ON)
+
+if(EVALHYD_BUILD_TEST)
+    add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index e2a033a3bbeed109c9ab2ed59b0e262a7e7428b8..8eac38520c8a0d2561ee7eaa5f8672f3a2c1c556 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,52 +1,19 @@
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18)
-project(evalhyd_tests)
-
-set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
-
-# GOOGLETEST CONFIG ------------------------------------------------------------
-include(FetchContent)
-FetchContent_Declare(
-        googletest
-        URL https://github.com/google/googletest/archive/e2239ee6043f73722e7aa812a459f54a28552929.zip
-)
-# For Windows: Prevent overriding the parent project's compiler/linker settings
-set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
-FetchContent_MakeAvailable(googletest)
-
-# EVALHYD CONFIG ---------------------------------------------------------------
-include_directories("../deps/xtl/include")
-include_directories("../deps/xtensor/include")
-
-include_directories(../include)
-include_directories(../src)
-
-SET(GCC_EVALHYD_COMPILE_FLAGS "-O3")
-SET(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} ${GCC_EVALHYD_COMPILE_FLAGS}")
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15)
 
 # TEST SUITE -------------------------------------------------------------------
-include_directories(data)
-
 add_executable(
         evalhyd_tests
         test_determinist.cpp
-        ../include/evalhyd/evald.hpp
-        ../src/determinist/evaluator.hpp
-        ../src/utils.hpp
-        ../src/masks.hpp
         test_probabilist.cpp
-        ../include/evalhyd/evalp.hpp
-        ../src/probabilist/evaluator.h
-        ../src/probabilist/evaluator_brier.cpp
-        ../src/probabilist/evaluator_quantiles.cpp
-        ../src/probabilist/evaluator_elements.cpp
         test_uncertainty.cpp
-        ../src/uncertainty.hpp
 )
-target_link_libraries(evalhyd_tests gtest gtest_main)
 
-enable_testing()
-add_test(
-        NAME evalhyd_tests
-        COMMAND evalhyd_tests
-        WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
+find_package(GTest REQUIRED)
+
+target_link_libraries(
+        evalhyd_tests
+        PRIVATE
+                EvalHyd::evalhyd
+                GTest::GTest
+                GTest::Main
 )