diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-sanitizers.yml b/.github/workflows/test-sanitizers.yml
index 11a339cd3..c6b3d8db0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-sanitizers.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-sanitizers.yml
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run tests
         shell: bash
         run: |
-          make -j$procs test TARGETS= EXTRA_TARGETS=
+          make -j$procs vanilla-test TARGETS= EXTRA_TARGETS=
 
       - name: Report errors
         if: ${{ failure() }}
@@ -76,4 +76,4 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run unit tests
         shell: bash
         run: |
-          make -j$procs unit-test ENABLE_LIBYOSYS=1
+          make -j$procs unit-test
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-verific.yml b/.github/workflows/test-verific.yml
index adc6f59d8..feba3c0f9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-verific.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-verific.yml
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Run Yosys tests
         run: |
-          make -j$procs test
+          make -j$procs vanilla-test
 
       - name: Run Verific specific Yosys tests
         run: |
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run unit tests
         shell: bash
         run: |
-          make -j$procs unit-test ENABLE_LTO=1 ENABLE_LIBYOSYS=1
+          make -j$procs unit-test ENABLE_LTO=1
 
   test-pyosys:
     needs: pre-job
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 364e1ce8d..7ce3153df 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -977,9 +977,11 @@ makefile-tests/%: %/run-test.mk $(TARGETS) $(EXTRA_TARGETS)
 	$(MAKE) -C $* -f run-test.mk
 	+@echo "...passed tests in $*"
 
-test: makefile-tests abcopt-tests seed-tests
+test: vanilla-test unit-test
+
+vanilla-test: makefile-tests abcopt-tests seed-tests
 	@echo ""
-	@echo "  Passed \"make test\"."
+	@echo "  Passed \"make vanilla-test\"."
 ifeq ($(ENABLE_VERIFIC),1)
 ifeq ($(YOSYS_NOVERIFIC),1)
 	@echo "  Ran tests without verific support due to YOSYS_NOVERIFIC=1."
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3b2f41768..df65a6a10 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ To build Yosys simply type 'make' in this directory.
 	$ sudo make install
 
 Tests are located in the tests subdirectory and can be executed using the test
-target. Note that you need gawk as well as a recent version of iverilog (i.e.
-build from git). Then, execute tests via:
+target. Note that you need gawk, a recent version of iverilog, and gtest.
+Execute tests via:
 
 	$ make test
 
diff --git a/docs/source/yosys_internals/extending_yosys/test_suites.rst b/docs/source/yosys_internals/extending_yosys/test_suites.rst
index 81a79e77f..c43dc3a84 100644
--- a/docs/source/yosys_internals/extending_yosys/test_suites.rst
+++ b/docs/source/yosys_internals/extending_yosys/test_suites.rst
@@ -8,7 +8,43 @@ Running the included test suite
 
 The Yosys source comes with a test suite to avoid regressions and keep
 everything working as expected.  Tests can be run by calling ``make test`` from
-the root Yosys directory.
+the root Yosys directory. By default, this runs vanilla and unit tests.
+
+Vanilla tests
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+These make up the majority of our testing coverage.
+They can be run with ``make vanilla-test`` and are based on calls to
+make subcommands (``make makefile-tests``) and shell scripts
+(``make seed-tests`` and ``make abcopt-tests``). Both use ``run-test.sh``
+files, but make-based tests only call ``tests/gen-tests-makefile.sh``
+to generate a makefile appropriate for the given directory, so only
+afterwards when make is invoked do the tests actually run.
+
+Usually their structure looks something like this:
+you write a .ys file that gets automatically run,
+which runs a frontend like ``read_verilog`` or ``read_rtlil`` with
+a relative path or a heredoc, then runs some commands including the command
+under test, and then uses :doc:`/using_yosys/more_scripting/selections`
+with ``-assert-count``. Usually it's unnecessary to "register" the test anywhere
+as if it's similar to other tests it will be run together with the rest.
+
+Unit tests
+~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Running the unit tests requires the following additional packages:
+
+.. tab:: Ubuntu
+
+   .. code:: console
+
+      sudo apt-get install libgtest-dev
+
+.. tab:: macOS
+
+   No additional requirements.
+
+Unit tests can be run with ``make unit-test``.
 
 Functional tests
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
@@ -41,23 +77,6 @@ instructions <https://github.com/Z3Prover/z3>`_.
 Then, set the :makevar:`ENABLE_FUNCTIONAL_TESTS` make variable when calling
 ``make test`` and the functional tests will be run as well.
 
-Unit tests
-~~~~~~~~~~
-
-Running the unit tests requires the following additional packages:
-
-.. tab:: Ubuntu
-
-   .. code:: console
-
-      sudo apt-get install libgtest-dev
-
-.. tab:: macOS
-
-   No additional requirements.
-
-Unit tests can be run with ``make unit-test``. 
-
 Docs tests
 ~~~~~~~~~~