diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 92df9c6..3bd8026 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ MKDIR = mkdir -p
 CPP = g++
 CPPFLAGS = -Wall -fPIC -pthread -std=c++1y -I./include -I${CONDA_PREFIX}/include
 LDLIBS = -L/usr/lib64 -L${CONDA_PREFIX}/lib -lzmq -lhdf5 -lhdf5_hl -lhdf5_cpp -lhdf5_hl_cpp -lboost_system -lboost_regex -lboost_thread -lpthread
+LDLIBS_TEST = -lgtest_main -lgtest
 LDFLAGS = -shared
 
 UNAME := $(shell uname)
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ SRCS = $(wildcard $(SRC_DIR)/*.cpp)
 OBJS = $(patsubst $(SRC_DIR)/%.cpp, $(OBJ_DIR)/%.o, $(SRCS))
 
 all: build_dirs libcpp_h5_writer
+test: build_dirs build_test
 
 debug: CPPFLAGS += -DDEBUG_OUTPUT -g
 debug: all
@@ -35,4 +37,7 @@ build_dirs:
 	$(MKDIR) $(OBJ_DIR) $(BIN_DIR)
 
 clean:
-	rm -rf $(OBJ_DIR) $(BIN_DIR)
\ No newline at end of file
+	rm -rf $(OBJ_DIR) $(BIN_DIR)
+
+build_test: $(OBJS)
+	$(CPP) $(CPPFLAGS) test/test_main.cpp $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS) $(LDLIBS_TEST) -o $(BIN_DIR)/execute_tests
\ No newline at end of file