diff --git a/SConscript b/SConscript
index 73414160..34fddc49 100644
--- a/SConscript
+++ b/SConscript
@@ -186,5 +186,5 @@ SConscript('board/pedal/SConscript')
 SConscript('board/jungle/SConscript')
 
 # test files
-if GetOption('test'):
+if GetOption('extras'):
   SConscript('tests/libpanda/SConscript')
diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 62f55787..2f25b44e 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
-AddOption('--test',
-          action='store_true',
+AddOption('--minimal',
+          action='store_false',
+          dest='extras',
           default=True,
-          help='build test files')
+          help='the minimum build. no tests, tools, etc.')
 
 AddOption('--ubsan',
           action='store_true',