diff --git a/Stackage/BuildPlan.hs b/Stackage/BuildPlan.hs
index 82121e1f..2c6135db 100644
--- a/Stackage/BuildPlan.hs
+++ b/Stackage/BuildPlan.hs
@@ -31,19 +31,22 @@ instance AsString BuildPlan where
         , makeSection "packages" $ Map.toList bpPackages
         , makeSection "core" $ Set.toList bpCore
         , makeSection "optional-core" $ Map.toList bpOptionalCore
+        , makeSection "skipped-tests" $ Set.toList bpSkippedTests
         ]
     fromString s1 = do
         (tools, s2) <- getSection "tools" s1
         (packages, s3) <- getSection "packages" s2
         (core, s4) <- getSection "core" s3
         (optionalCore, s5) <- getSection "optional-core" s4
+        (skipped, s6) <- getSection "skipped-tests" s5
         let bp = BuildPlan
                 { bpTools = tools
                 , bpPackages = Map.fromList packages
                 , bpCore = Set.fromList core
                 , bpOptionalCore = Map.fromList optionalCore
+                , bpSkippedTests = Set.fromList skipped
                 }
-        return (bp, s5)
+        return (bp, s6)
 
 makeSection :: AsString a => String -> [a] -> String
 makeSection title contents = unlines
diff --git a/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs b/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs
index 09b3eac9..cbfe7a7c 100644
--- a/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs
+++ b/Stackage/LoadDatabase.hs
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ loadPackageDB settings coreMap core deps = do
                         _ ->
                             case Tar.entryContent e of
                                 Tar.NormalFile bs _ -> do
-                                    let (deps', hasTests, buildTools', mgpd, execs, mgithub) = parseDeps bs
+                                    let (deps', hasTests, buildTools', mgpd, execs, mgithub) = parseDeps p bs
                                     return $ mappend pdb $ PackageDB $ Map.singleton p PackageInfo
                                         { piVersion = v
                                         , piDeps = deps'
@@ -92,15 +92,19 @@ loadPackageDB settings coreMap core deps = do
                                         }
                                 _ -> return pdb
 
-    parseDeps lbs =
+    skipTests p = p `Set.member` skippedTests settings
+
+    parseDeps p lbs =
         case parsePackageDescription $ L8.unpack lbs of
             ParseOk _ gpd -> (mconcat
                 [ maybe mempty (go gpd) $ condLibrary gpd
                 , mconcat $ map (go gpd . snd) $ condExecutables gpd
-                , mconcat $ map (go gpd . snd) $ condTestSuites gpd
+                , if skipTests p
+                    then mempty
+                    else mconcat $ map (go gpd . snd) $ condTestSuites gpd
                 , mconcat $ map (go gpd . snd) $ condBenchmarks gpd
                 ], not $ null $ condTestSuites gpd
-                , Set.fromList $ map depName $ allBuildInfo gpd
+                , Set.fromList $ map depName $ allBuildInfo p gpd
                 , Just gpd
                 , Set.fromList $ map (Executable . fst) $ condExecutables gpd
                 , listToMaybe $ catMaybes
@@ -109,10 +113,12 @@ loadPackageDB settings coreMap core deps = do
                 )
             _ -> (mempty, defaultHasTestSuites, Set.empty, Nothing, Set.empty, Nothing)
       where
-        allBuildInfo gpd = concat
+        allBuildInfo p gpd = concat
             [ maybe mempty (goBI libBuildInfo) $ condLibrary gpd
             , concat $ map (goBI buildInfo . snd) $ condExecutables gpd
-            , concat $ map (goBI testBuildInfo . snd) $ condTestSuites gpd
+            , if skipTests p
+                then []
+                else concat $ map (goBI testBuildInfo . snd) $ condTestSuites gpd
             , concat $ map (goBI benchmarkBuildInfo . snd) $ condBenchmarks gpd
             ]
           where
diff --git a/Stackage/Select.hs b/Stackage/Select.hs
index 5ab262a7..02627ab8 100644
--- a/Stackage/Select.hs
+++ b/Stackage/Select.hs
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ defaultSelectSettings = SelectSettings
     , disabledFlags = Set.fromList $ words "bytestring-in-base"
     , allowedPackage = const $ Right ()
     , useGlobalDatabase = False
+    , skippedTests = empty
     }
 
 select :: SelectSettings -> IO BuildPlan
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ select settings' = do
         , bpPackages = iiPackages ii
         , bpOptionalCore = iiOptionalCore ii
         , bpCore = iiCore ii
+        , bpSkippedTests = skippedTests settings'
         }
 
 -- | Get all of the build tools required.
diff --git a/Stackage/Test.hs b/Stackage/Test.hs
index aaf6b88e..ece2290c 100644
--- a/Stackage/Test.hs
+++ b/Stackage/Test.hs
@@ -22,13 +22,15 @@ import           System.Process     (runProcess, waitForProcess)
 runTestSuites :: BuildSettings -> BuildPlan -> IO ()
 runTestSuites settings' bp = do
     settings <- fixBuildSettings settings'
-    let selected = bpPackages bp
+    let selected = Map.filterWithKey notSkipped $ bpPackages bp
     putStrLn "Running test suites"
     let testdir = "runtests"
     rm_r testdir
     createDirectory testdir
     allPass <- parFoldM (testWorkerThreads settings) (runTestSuite settings testdir) (&&) True $ Map.toList selected
     unless allPass $ error $ "There were failures, please see the logs in " ++ testdir
+  where
+    notSkipped p _ = p `Set.notMember` bpSkippedTests bp
 
 parFoldM :: Int -- ^ number of threads
          -> (b -> IO c)
diff --git a/Stackage/Types.hs b/Stackage/Types.hs
index 2f859295..da662142 100644
--- a/Stackage/Types.hs
+++ b/Stackage/Types.hs
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ data BuildPlan = BuildPlan
     , bpCore         :: Set PackageName
     , bpOptionalCore :: Map PackageName Version
       -- ^ See 'iiOptionalCore'
+    , bpSkippedTests :: Set PackageName
     }
 
 -- | Email address of a Stackage maintainer.
@@ -115,6 +116,9 @@ data SelectSettings = SelectSettings
     -- ^ Instead of checking the Haskell Platform file for core packages, query
     -- the global database. For this to be reliable, you should only have
     -- default packages in your global database. Default is @False@.
+    , skippedTests           :: Set PackageName
+    -- ^ Do not build or run test suites, usually in order to avoid a
+    -- dependency.
     }
 
 data BuildStage = BSBuild | BSTest