diff --git a/src/include/migraphx/register_target.hpp b/src/include/migraphx/register_target.hpp
index ddfff1cf2ac..1d274433e91 100644
--- a/src/include/migraphx/register_target.hpp
+++ b/src/include/migraphx/register_target.hpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * The MIT License (MIT)
  *
- * Copyright (c) 2015-2023 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2024 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
  * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <migraphx/target.hpp>
 #include <migraphx/auto_register.hpp>
 #include <cstring>
+#include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
 namespace migraphx {
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ struct target_handler
 {
     target t;
     std::string target_name;
-    target_handler(const target& t_r) : t(t_r), target_name(t.name()) {}
+    explicit target_handler(target t_r) : t(std::move(t_r)), target_name(t.name()) {}
     ~target_handler() { unregister_target(target_name); }
 };
 } // namespace detail
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 88eb38340a7..c14e4091c22 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -33,7 +33,11 @@ if(MIGRAPHX_DISABLE_LARGE_BUFFER_TESTS)
     add_compile_definitions(MIGRAPHX_DISABLE_LARGE_BUFFER_TESTS)
 endif()
 
+add_library(register_targets STATIC register_target.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(register_targets PRIVATE migraphx migraphx_all_targets)
+
 file(GLOB TESTS CONFIGURE_DEPENDS *.cpp)
+list(REMOVE_ITEM TESTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/register_target.cpp)
 
 foreach(TEST ${TESTS})
     get_filename_component(BASE_NAME ${TEST} NAME_WE)
@@ -56,7 +60,7 @@ if(MIGRAPHX_ENABLE_GPU)
         if(MIGRAPHX_USE_HIPRTC)
         target_compile_definitions(test_gpu_${BASE_NAME} PUBLIC -DMIGRAPHX_USE_HIPRTC)
         endif()
-        target_link_libraries(test_gpu_${BASE_NAME} migraphx_gpu migraphx_kernels)
+        target_link_libraries(test_gpu_${BASE_NAME} migraphx_gpu migraphx_kernels register_targets)
     endforeach()
 endif()
 
@@ -102,7 +106,7 @@ if(MIGRAPHX_ENABLE_GPU AND MIGRAPHX_ENABLE_CPU AND MIGRAPHX_ENABLE_FPGA)
         set(TEST_NAME test_${BASE_NAME})
         add_executable(${TEST_NAME} ${MULTI_TARGET_TEST})
         rocm_clang_tidy_check(${TEST_NAME})
-        target_link_libraries(${TEST_NAME} migraphx migraphx_onnx migraphx_tf migraphx_all_targets)
+        target_link_libraries(${TEST_NAME} migraphx migraphx_onnx migraphx_tf migraphx_all_targets register_targets)
         target_include_directories(${TEST_NAME} PUBLIC include)
         add_test(NAME ${TEST_NAME} COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:${TEST_NAME}> WORKING_DIRECTORY ${TEST_MULTI_TARGET_DIR})
         rocm_mark_as_test(${TEST_NAME})
@@ -140,7 +144,7 @@ function(test_headers PREFIX)
         string(MAKE_C_IDENTIFIER ${HEADER_REL} TEST_NAME)
         get_filename_component(BASE_NAME ${HEADER} NAME_WE)
         test_header(header_${TEST_NAME} ${PREFIX}/${BASE_NAME}.hpp)
-        target_link_libraries(header_${TEST_NAME} migraphx migraphx_onnx migraphx_tf migraphx_all_targets)
+        target_link_libraries(header_${TEST_NAME} migraphx migraphx_onnx migraphx_tf migraphx_all_targets register_targets)
     endforeach()
 endfunction()
 
diff --git a/test/register_target.cpp b/test/register_target.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e6146088a05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/register_target.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+/*
+ * The MIT License (MIT)
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2015-2024 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
+ * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
+ * THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+#include <migraphx/register_target.hpp>
+
+namespace {
+struct auto_load_targets
+{
+    auto_load_targets()
+    {
+        migraphx::make_target("ref");
+#ifdef HAVE_CPU
+        migraphx::make_target("cpu");
+#endif
+#ifdef HAVE_GPU
+        migraphx::make_target("gpu");
+#endif
+#ifdef HAVE_FPGA
+        migraphx::make_target("fpga");
+#endif
+    }
+};
+[[maybe_unused]] static auto load_targets{auto_load_targets{}};
+} // namespace