diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 084be76b..8b2a388d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -429,10 +429,15 @@ endforeach()
 get_directory_property( ALL_TESTS TESTS )
 set_tests_properties( ${ALL_TESTS} PROPERTIES
                       TIMEOUT 120
-                      FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "(WARNING:|runtime error)" )
+                      FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "(WARNING:|runtime error)"
+                      FIXTURES_REQUIRED "BuildTestBinaries" )
 
-add_custom_target( test-ok  USES_TERMINAL COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND} -C $<CONFIG> -R "\"^(Test|MISSING)\"" )
-add_custom_target( test-all USES_TERMINAL COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND} -C $<CONFIG> -R "\"^(Test|MISSING|Faulty)\"" )
+# ensure vvdecapp is built before the tests (as a test case setup fixture)
+add_test( NAME "build test binaries" COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --build "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}" --config "$<CONFIG>" --target vvdecapp )
+set_tests_properties( "build test binaries" PROPERTIES FIXTURES_SETUP BuildTestBinaries TIMEOUT 0 )
+
+add_custom_target( test-ok  USES_TERMINAL COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND} -C $<CONFIG> -R "\"^(Test|MISSING)\""        DEPENDS vvdecapp )
+add_custom_target( test-all USES_TERMINAL COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND} -C $<CONFIG> -R "\"^(Test|MISSING|Faulty)\"" DEPENDS vvdecapp )
 
 if( MISSING_BITSTREAM_FILES )
   message( STATUS "Some bitstream files are missing." )