diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 273048d458..fd37138f33 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *Builder) !void {
 
     b.default_step.dependOn(&exe.step);
 
+    const skip_release = b.option(bool, "skip-release", "Main test suite skips release builds") orelse false;
     const skip_self_hosted = b.option(bool, "skip-self-hosted", "Main test suite skips building self hosted compiler") orelse false;
     if (!skip_self_hosted) {
         test_step.dependOn(&exe.step);
@@ -71,19 +72,24 @@ pub fn build(b: *Builder) !void {
     installCHeaders(b, ctx.c_header_files);
 
     const test_filter = b.option([]const u8, "test-filter", "Skip tests that do not match filter");
-    const with_lldb = b.option(bool, "with-lldb", "Run tests in LLDB to get a backtrace if one fails") orelse false;
 
     const test_stage2_step = b.step("test-stage2", "Run the stage2 compiler tests");
     test_stage2_step.dependOn(&test_stage2.step);
     test_step.dependOn(test_stage2_step);
 
-    test_step.dependOn(docs_step);
+    const all_modes = []builtin.Mode{
+        builtin.Mode.Debug,
+        builtin.Mode.ReleaseSafe,
+        builtin.Mode.ReleaseFast,
+        builtin.Mode.ReleaseSmall,
+    };
+    const modes = if (skip_release) []builtin.Mode{builtin.Mode.Debug} else all_modes;
 
-    test_step.dependOn(tests.addPkgTests(b, test_filter, "test/behavior.zig", "behavior", "Run the behavior tests", with_lldb));
+    test_step.dependOn(tests.addPkgTests(b, test_filter, "test/behavior.zig", "behavior", "Run the behavior tests", modes));
 
-    test_step.dependOn(tests.addPkgTests(b, test_filter, "std/index.zig", "std", "Run the standard library tests", with_lldb));
+    test_step.dependOn(tests.addPkgTests(b, test_filter, "std/index.zig", "std", "Run the standard library tests", modes));
 
-    test_step.dependOn(tests.addPkgTests(b, test_filter, "std/special/compiler_rt/index.zig", "compiler-rt", "Run the compiler_rt tests", with_lldb));
+    test_step.dependOn(tests.addPkgTests(b, test_filter, "std/special/compiler_rt/index.zig", "compiler-rt", "Run the compiler_rt tests", modes));
 
     test_step.dependOn(tests.addCompareOutputTests(b, test_filter));
     test_step.dependOn(tests.addBuildExampleTests(b, test_filter));
@@ -92,6 +98,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *Builder) !void {
     test_step.dependOn(tests.addRuntimeSafetyTests(b, test_filter));
     test_step.dependOn(tests.addTranslateCTests(b, test_filter));
     test_step.dependOn(tests.addGenHTests(b, test_filter));
+    test_step.dependOn(docs_step);
 }
 
 fn dependOnLib(lib_exe_obj: var, dep: *const LibraryDep) void {
diff --git a/test/tests.zig b/test/tests.zig
index 66eb2d93a0..b1453776a8 100644
--- a/test/tests.zig
+++ b/test/tests.zig
@@ -138,16 +138,11 @@ pub fn addGenHTests(b: *build.Builder, test_filter: ?[]const u8) *build.Step {
     return cases.step;
 }
 
-pub fn addPkgTests(b: *build.Builder, test_filter: ?[]const u8, root_src: []const u8, name: []const u8, desc: []const u8, with_lldb: bool) *build.Step {
+pub fn addPkgTests(b: *build.Builder, test_filter: ?[]const u8, root_src: []const u8, name: []const u8, desc: []const u8, modes: []const Mode) *build.Step {
     const step = b.step(b.fmt("test-{}", name), desc);
     for (test_targets) |test_target| {
         const is_native = (test_target.os == builtin.os and test_target.arch == builtin.arch);
-        for ([]Mode{
-            Mode.Debug,
-            Mode.ReleaseSafe,
-            Mode.ReleaseFast,
-            Mode.ReleaseSmall,
-        }) |mode| {
+        for (modes) |mode| {
             for ([]bool{
                 false,
                 true,
@@ -166,18 +161,6 @@ pub fn addPkgTests(b: *build.Builder, test_filter: ?[]const u8, root_src: []cons
                 if (link_libc) {
                     these_tests.linkSystemLibrary("c");
                 }
-                if (with_lldb) {
-                    these_tests.setExecCmd([]?[]const u8{
-                        "lldb",
-                        null,
-                        "-o",
-                        "run",
-                        "-o",
-                        "bt",
-                        "-o",
-                        "exit",
-                    });
-                }
                 step.dependOn(&these_tests.step);
             }
         }