diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a5803e59..f561828f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ endif()
 option(BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build libssh2 examples" ON)
 option(BUILD_TESTING "Build libssh2 test suite" ON)
 
-if(NOT BUILD_STATIC_LIBS AND (NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS OR BUILD_TESTING))
+if(NOT BUILD_STATIC_LIBS AND NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
   set(BUILD_STATIC_LIBS ON)
 endif()
 
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 8c7dec3c..ea9e6856 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -77,21 +77,29 @@ set(TESTS_WITH_LIB_STATIC
 )
 
 foreach(test ${DOCKER_TESTS} ${STANDALONE_TESTS} ${SSHD_TESTS})
+  if(NOT ";${TESTS_WITH_LIB_STATIC};" MATCHES ";${test};")
+    set(LIB_FOR_TESTS ${LIB_SELECTED})
+  elseif(TARGET ${LIB_STATIC})
+    set(LIB_FOR_TESTS ${LIB_STATIC})
+  else()
+    unset(LIB_FOR_TESTS)
+    message(STATUS "Skip test requiring static libssh2 lib: ${test}")
+  endif()
+
   # We support the same target as both Docker and SSHD test. Build those just once.
-  if(NOT TARGET ${test})
+  # Skip building tests that require the static lib when the static lib is disabled.
+  if(NOT TARGET ${test} AND LIB_FOR_TESTS)
     add_executable(${test} ${test}.c)
     target_compile_definitions(${test} PRIVATE "${CRYPTO_BACKEND_DEFINE}")
     target_include_directories(${test} PRIVATE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/../src" ../src ../include "${CRYPTO_BACKEND_INCLUDE_DIR}")
     set_target_properties(${test} PROPERTIES UNITY_BUILD false)
 
     # build a single test with gcov
-    if(GCOV_PATH AND test STREQUAL test_auth_keyboard_info_request)
+    if(GCOV_PATH AND test STREQUAL test_auth_keyboard_info_request AND TARGET ${LIB_STATIC})
       target_compile_options(${test} BEFORE PRIVATE ${GCOV_OPTIONS})
-      target_link_libraries(${test} runner ${LIB_STATIC} ${LIBRARIES} gcov)
-    elseif(";${TESTS_WITH_LIB_STATIC};" MATCHES ";${test};")
-      target_link_libraries(${test} runner ${LIB_STATIC} ${LIBRARIES})
+      target_link_libraries(${test} runner ${LIB_FOR_TESTS} ${LIBRARIES} gcov)
     else()
-      target_link_libraries(${test} runner ${LIB_SELECTED} ${LIBRARIES})
+      target_link_libraries(${test} runner ${LIB_FOR_TESTS} ${LIBRARIES})
     endif()
 
     list(APPEND TEST_TARGETS ${test})
@@ -102,25 +110,33 @@ option(RUN_DOCKER_TESTS "Run tests requiring Docker" ON)
 
 if(RUN_DOCKER_TESTS)
   foreach(test ${DOCKER_TESTS})
-    add_test(NAME ${test} COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:${test}>)
-    set_property(TEST ${test} APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "srcdir=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
+    if(TARGET ${test})
+      add_test(NAME ${test} COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:${test}>)
+      set_property(TEST ${test} APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "srcdir=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
+    endif()
   endforeach()
 endif()
 
 foreach(test ${STANDALONE_TESTS})
-  add_test(NAME ${test} COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:${test}>)
-  set_property(TEST ${test} APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "srcdir=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
+  if(TARGET ${test})
+    add_test(NAME ${test} COMMAND $<TARGET_FILE:${test}>)
+    set_property(TEST ${test} APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "srcdir=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
+  endif()
 endforeach()
 
 if(RUN_SSHD_TESTS AND SSHD_EXECUTABLE)
   unset(sshd_test_targets)
   foreach(test ${SSHD_TESTS})
-    set(sshd_test_targets "${sshd_test_targets} $<TARGET_FILE:${test}>")
+    if(TARGET ${test})
+      set(sshd_test_targets "${sshd_test_targets} $<TARGET_FILE:${test}>")
+    endif()
   endforeach()
 
-  add_test(NAME test_sshd COMMAND ${SH_EXECUTABLE} -c "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_sshd.test ${sshd_test_targets}")
-  set_property(TEST test_sshd APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "srcdir=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
-  set_property(TEST test_sshd APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "SSHD=${SSHD_EXECUTABLE}")
+  if(sshd_test_targets)
+    add_test(NAME test_sshd COMMAND ${SH_EXECUTABLE} -c "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/test_sshd.test ${sshd_test_targets}")
+    set_property(TEST test_sshd APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "srcdir=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
+    set_property(TEST test_sshd APPEND PROPERTY ENVIRONMENT "SSHD=${SSHD_EXECUTABLE}")
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 if(RUN_DOCKER_TESTS)