diff --git a/PyGreSQL.spec b/PyGreSQL.spec
index b566c9a..43a5c73 100644
--- a/PyGreSQL.spec
+++ b/PyGreSQL.spec
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 %global sum		A Python client library for PostgreSQL
 %global srcname	PyGreSQL
 
+%{!?runselftest:%global runselftest 1}
+
 Name:		%{srcname}
 Version:	5.0
 Release:	2%{?dist}
@@ -86,6 +88,9 @@ find -type f -exec chmod 644 {} +
 
 
 %check
+%if %runselftest == 0
+exit 0
+%endif
 pgdatadir=datadir
 pghost=/tmp
 pgport=54321
@@ -125,6 +130,7 @@ EOF
 %changelog
 * Mon Mar 21 2016 Pavel Raiskup <praiskup@redhat.com> - 5.0-2
 - use %%python_provide macro according to Python packaging guidelines
+- allow disabling the testsuite by 'rpmbuild --define "runselftest 0"'
 
 * Mon Mar 21 2016 Pavel Raiskup <praiskup@redhat.com> - 5.0-1
 - rebase to 5.0