diff --git a/arch/sandbox/cpu/spl.c b/arch/sandbox/cpu/spl.c
index 7ab8919..48fd126 100644
--- a/arch/sandbox/cpu/spl.c
+++ b/arch/sandbox/cpu/spl.c
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 #include <spl.h>
 #include <asm/spl.h>
 #include <asm/state.h>
+#include <test/test.h>
 
 DECLARE_GLOBAL_DATA_PTR;
 
@@ -67,6 +68,13 @@
 		     uclass_next_device(&dev))
 			;
 	}
+
+	if (state->run_unittests) {
+		int ret;
+
+		ret = dm_test_main(NULL);
+		/* continue execution into U-Boot */
+	}
 }
 
 void __noreturn jump_to_image_no_args(struct spl_image_info *spl_image)
diff --git a/arch/sandbox/cpu/start.c b/arch/sandbox/cpu/start.c
index c6a2bbe..f5e104b 100644
--- a/arch/sandbox/cpu/start.c
+++ b/arch/sandbox/cpu/start.c
@@ -374,6 +374,15 @@
 }
 SANDBOX_CMDLINE_OPT(show_of_platdata, 0, "Show of-platdata in SPL");
 
+static int sandbox_cmdline_cb_unittests(struct sandbox_state *state,
+					const char *arg)
+{
+	state->run_unittests = true;
+
+	return 0;
+}
+SANDBOX_CMDLINE_OPT_SHORT(unittests, 'u', 0, "Run unit tests");
+
 static void setup_ram_buf(struct sandbox_state *state)
 {
 	/* Zero the RAM buffer if we didn't read it, to keep valgrind happy */