diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b4d09465..8a33a6fa 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -200,10 +200,10 @@ CLERK=$(CLERK_BIN) --exe $(CATALA_BIN) \
 .FORCE:
 
 unit-tests: .FORCE
-	dune runtest
+	dune build @for-tests @runtest
 
 #> tests					: Run interpreter tests
-tests: .FORCE prepare-install unit-tests
+tests: .FORCE unit-tests
 	@$(MAKE) -C tests pass_all_tests
 
 tests/%: .FORCE
diff --git a/dune b/dune
index 415b1bbe..9be60db6 100644
--- a/dune
+++ b/dune
@@ -52,6 +52,16 @@
  (name exec)
  (deps compiler/catala.exe build_system/clerk.exe))
 
+;; This alias contains the minimum requirements to run the tests. It's lighter than building @install which includes the (long) compilation of `catala.js`
+
+(alias
+ (name for-tests)
+ (deps
+  _build/install/default/bin/catala
+  _build/install/default/bin/clerk
+  _build/install/default/lib/catala/runtime_ocaml/runtime_ocaml.cmi
+  _build/install/default/lib/catala/runtime_ocaml/runtime_ocaml__Runtime.cmi))
+
 ;; This garbles Clerk output, prefer to run from Makefile
 ;; (rule
 ;;  (alias runtest)