diff --git a/compiler/CMakeLists.txt b/compiler/CMakeLists.txt
index 69a56fc4f..19e10e494 100644
--- a/compiler/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/compiler/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -58,11 +58,17 @@ else()
   message(STATUS "ZamaLang Python bindings are disabled.")
 endif()
 
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Unit tests
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+option(ZAMALANG_UNIT_TESTS "Enables the build of unittests" ON)
 
 
 add_subdirectory(include)
 add_subdirectory(lib)
 add_subdirectory(src)
+add_subdirectory(tests)
 
 if (ZAMALANG_BINDINGS_PYTHON_ENABLED)
     add_subdirectory(python)
diff --git a/compiler/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/compiler/tests/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7266ea592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+if (ZAMALANG_UNIT_TESTS)
+    add_subdirectory(unittest)
+endif()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/compiler/tests/unittest/CMakeLists.txt b/compiler/tests/unittest/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2aeff5bad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/tests/unittest/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+enable_testing()
+
+add_executable(
+  hello_test
+  hello_test.cc
+)
+target_link_libraries(
+  hello_test
+  gtest_main
+)
+
+include(GoogleTest)
+gtest_discover_tests(hello_test)
+
diff --git a/compiler/tests/unittest/hello_test.cc b/compiler/tests/unittest/hello_test.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a57e138f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/compiler/tests/unittest/hello_test.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+// Demonstrate some basic assertions.
+TEST(HelloTest, BasicAssertions) {
+  // Expect two strings not to be equal.
+  EXPECT_STRNE("hello", "world");
+  // Expect equality.
+  EXPECT_EQ(7 * 6, 42);
+}