diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index b2cf56881d..1900213b48 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -390,6 +390,7 @@ installation:
     - bash maintainer/CI/build_cmake.sh
     - cd build
     - make install
+    - cmake . -D ESPRESSO_BUILD_TESTS=ON
     # get path of installed files
     - CI_INSTALL_DIR="/tmp/espresso-unit-tests"
     - CI_INSTALL_PYTHON_PATH=$(dirname $(find "${CI_INSTALL_DIR}/lib" -name espressomd))