diff --git a/SConscript b/SConscript
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ed3aff754d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/SConscript
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# panda fw
+SConscript('board/SConscript')
+
+# test files
+if GetOption('test'):
+  SConscript('tests/libpanda/SConscript')
diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 6cfc049e54..fd83d87523 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
-# panda fw
-SConscript('board/SConscript')
+AddOption('--test',
+          action='store_true',
+          default=True,
+          help='build test files')
 
-# test files
-SConscript('tests/libpanda/SConscript')
+# panda fw & test files
+SConscript('SConscript')
diff --git a/tests/libpanda/SConscript b/tests/libpanda/SConscript
index 71919ac27c..9ff9102470 100644
--- a/tests/libpanda/SConscript
+++ b/tests/libpanda/SConscript
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ env = Environment(
     '-fno-builtin',
     '-std=gnu11',
   ],
-  CPPPATH=[".", "#board/"],
+  CPPPATH=[".", "../../board"],
 )
 
 env.SharedLibrary("libpanda.so", ["safety_helpers.c"])
diff --git a/tests/safety/SConscript b/tests/safety/SConscript
deleted file mode 100644
index 809c651740..0000000000
--- a/tests/safety/SConscript
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-env = Environment(
-  CC='gcc',
-  CFLAGS=[
-    '-nostdlib',
-    '-fno-builtin',
-    '-std=gnu11',
-  ],
-  CPPPATH=[".", "../../board"],
-)
-
-env.SharedLibrary("libpandasafety.so", ["test.c"])