diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 4daaa67..424c24c 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -27,6 +27,6 @@ before_install:
 script:
   - mkdir tmp
   - cd tmp
-  - cmake ..
+  - cmake -DMADDY_ENABLED_TESTS=ON ..
   - make -j4
   - ../build/MaddyTests
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 72633bb..e08fd7c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ maddy uses [semver versioning](https://semver.org/).
 * ![**ADDED**](https://img.shields.io/badge/-ADDED-%23099) Added contribution guideline
 * ![**CHANGED**](https://img.shields.io/badge/-CHANGED-%23e90) updated cmake minimum required version to 3.25
 * ![**CHANGED**](https://img.shields.io/badge/-CHANGED-%23e90) gtest is now loaded via cmake and not a git submodule any longer - updated gtest version to 1.13.0
+* ![**CHANGED**](https://img.shields.io/badge/-CHANGED-%23e90) tests are only run if the cmake option `MADDY_ENABLED_TESTS` is on, moved test cmake code to the `tests` subfolder
 * ?
 
 ## version 1.1.2 2020-10-04
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 526e905..a19207d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.25)
 
 project(maddy)
 
-enable_testing()
-
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 set(MADDY_CPP_VERSION 14)
@@ -20,8 +18,15 @@ set(LIBRARY_OUTPUT_PATH ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+option(MADDY_ENABLED_TESTS "enable building tests" OFF)
+
+if(${MADDY_ENABLED_TESTS})
+  enable_testing()
+endif()
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 set(MADDY_INCLUDE_DIR ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
-file(GLOB_RECURSE MADDY_TESTS_FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tests/maddy/*.cpp)
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -54,10 +59,6 @@ endif()
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-add_subdirectory(libs)
-
-# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
 add_library(maddy INTERFACE)
 target_include_directories(maddy INTERFACE
   ${MADDY_INCLUDE_DIR}
@@ -65,14 +66,6 @@ target_include_directories(maddy INTERFACE
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-add_executable(
-  MaddyTests
-    ${MADDY_TESTS_FILES}
-    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tests/main.cpp
-)
-target_include_directories(MaddyTests PUBLIC
-  ${LIBS_INCLUDE_DIRS}
-  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/tests
-)
-target_link_libraries(MaddyTests maddy gmock_main)
-add_test(MaddyTests ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/build/MaddyTests)
+if(${MADDY_ENABLED_TESTS})
+  add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e5d457f..8c2c65b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ It is tested to work on:
 
 * Linux (gcc)
 * OSX (clang)
-* Windows (Visual Studio 2017)
+* Windows (Visual Studio 2017, mingw)
 
 ## Dependencies
 
@@ -63,10 +63,9 @@ Open your preferred terminal and type:
 ```shell
 git clone https://github.com/progsource/maddy.git
 cd maddy
-git submodule update --init --recursive
 mkdir tmp
 cd tmp
-cmake ..
+cmake -DMADDY_ENABLED_TESTS=ON ..
 make
 make test # or run the executable in ../build/MaddyTests
 ```
diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index e8842c3..847894d 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ install:
 before_build:
   - cmd: mkdir tmp
   - cmd: cd tmp
-  - cmd: cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 Win64" ..
+  - cmd: cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 Win64" -DMADDY_ENABLED_TESTS=ON ..
 
 build:
   project: $(APPVEYOR_BUILD_FOLDER)\tmp\$(APPVEYOR_PROJECT_NAME).sln
diff --git a/libs/CMakeLists.txt b/libs/CMakeLists.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 6391206..0000000
--- a/libs/CMakeLists.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-# This project is licensed under the MIT license. For more information see the
-# LICENSE file.
-
-include(FetchContent)
-
-FetchContent_Declare(
-  googletest
-  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/google/googletest.git
-  GIT_TAG        b796f7d44681514f58a683a3a71ff17c94edb0c1 # v1.13.0
-)
-FetchContent_MakeAvailable(googletest)
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0252b57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# This project is licensed under the MIT license. For more information see the
+# LICENSE file.
+
+include(FetchContent)
+
+FetchContent_Declare(
+  googletest
+  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/google/googletest.git
+  GIT_TAG        b796f7d44681514f58a683a3a71ff17c94edb0c1 # v1.13.0
+)
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(googletest)
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+file(GLOB_RECURSE MADDY_TESTS_FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/maddy/*.cpp)
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+add_executable(
+  MaddyTests
+    ${MADDY_TESTS_FILES}
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/main.cpp
+)
+target_include_directories(MaddyTests PUBLIC
+  ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}
+)
+target_link_libraries(MaddyTests maddy gmock_main)
+add_test(MaddyTests MaddyTests)