diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index 11ffeb5de..c1290dfff 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -538,8 +538,17 @@ config_options = [
         'system_googletest',
         """Select whether to use gtest/gmock from system
            installation ('y'), from a Git submodule ('n'), or to decide
-           automatically ('default').""",
+           automatically ('default'). Deprecated option, please use 'googletest' instead.
+           This option is supressed by 'googltest' option.""",
         'default', ('default', 'y', 'n')),
+    EnumVariable(
+        'googletest',
+        """Select whether to use gtest/gmock from system
+           installation ('system'), from a Git submodule ('submodule'), to decide
+           automatically ('default') or don't look for gtest/gmock ('none')
+           and don't run tests that depend on gtest/gmock.
+           If this option is set then it suppress the deprecated 'system_googletest' option.""",
+        'default', ('default', 'system', 'submodule', 'none')),
     (
         'env_vars',
         """Environment variables to propagate through to SCons. Either the
@@ -908,17 +917,19 @@ except ValueError:
     print('INFO: Could not find version of fmt')
 
 # Check for googletest and checkout submodule if needed
-if env['system_googletest'] in ('y', 'default'):
+if env['googletest'] in ('system', 'default'):
     has_gtest = conf.CheckCXXHeader('gtest/gtest.h', '""')
     has_gmock = conf.CheckCXXHeader('gmock/gmock.h', '""')
     if has_gtest and has_gmock:
         env['system_googletest'] = True
-    elif env['system_googletest'] == 'y':
+        env['googletest'] = 'system'
+    elif env['system_googletest'] == 'y' or env['googletest'] == 'system':
         config_error('Expected system installation of Googletest-1.8.0, but it '
                      'could not be found.')
 
-if env['system_googletest'] in ('n', 'default'):
+if env['googletest'] in ('submodule', 'default'):
     env['system_googletest'] = False
+    env['googletest'] = 'submodule'
     has_gtest = os.path.exists('ext/googletest/googletest/include/gtest/gtest.h')
     has_gmock = os.path.exists('ext/googletest/googlemock/include/gmock/gmock.h')
     if not (has_gtest and has_gmock):
@@ -935,6 +946,9 @@ if env['system_googletest'] in ('n', 'default'):
                          'Try manually checking out the submodule with:\n\n'
                          '    git submodule update --init --recursive ext/googletest\n')
 
+#do nothing "if env['googletest'] in ('none'):"
+# i.e. don't run tests that use 'googletest' module
+
 # Check for Eigen and checkout submodule if needed
 if env['system_eigen'] in ('y', 'default'):
     if conf.CheckCXXHeader('Eigen/Dense', '<>'):
@@ -1747,6 +1761,8 @@ def postBuildMessage(target, source, env):
     print("*******************************************************")
     print("Compilation completed successfully.\n")
     print("- To run the test suite, type 'scons test'.")
+    if env['googletest'] == 'none':
+        print("  WARNING: You set the 'googletest' to 'none' and all it's tests will be skipped.")
     if os.name == 'nt':
         print("- To install, type 'scons install'.")
         print("- To create a Windows MSI installer, type 'scons msi'.")
diff --git a/test/SConscript b/test/SConscript
index 9d24481be..a70955d23 100644
--- a/test/SConscript
+++ b/test/SConscript
@@ -15,11 +15,15 @@ else:
 
 localenv.Prepend(CPPPATH=['#include'],
                  LIBPATH='#build/lib')
-if not env['system_googletest']:
-    localenv.Prepend(CPPPATH=['#ext/googletest/googletest/include',
+if env['googletest'] in ('system', 'submodule'):
+    if not env['system_googletest']:
+        localenv.Prepend(CPPPATH=['#ext/googletest/googletest/include',
                               '#ext/googletest/googlemock/include'])
-localenv.Append(LIBS=['gtest', 'gmock'] + cantera_libs,
-                CCFLAGS=env['warning_flags'])
+    localenv.Append(LIBS=['gtest', 'gmock'] + cantera_libs,
+                    CCFLAGS=env['warning_flags'])
+else:
+    localenv.Append(LIBS=cantera_libs,
+                    CCFLAGS=env['warning_flags'])
 
 # Turn of optimization to speed up compilation
 ccflags = localenv['CCFLAGS']
@@ -87,10 +91,11 @@ def addTestProgram(subdir, progName, env_vars={}):
     passedFile = File(pjoin(str(program[0].dir), '%s.passed' % program[0].name))
     PASSED_FILES[progName] = str(passedFile)
     testResults.tests[passedFile.name] = program
-    run_program = testenv.Command(passedFile, program, gtestRunner)
-    env.Depends(run_program, env['build_targets'])
-    env.Depends(env['test_results'], run_program)
-    Alias('test-%s' % progName, run_program)
+    if env['googletest'] != 'none':
+        run_program = testenv.Command(passedFile, program, gtestRunner)
+        env.Depends(run_program, env['build_targets'])
+        env.Depends(env['test_results'], run_program)
+        Alias('test-%s' % progName, run_program)
     env['testNames'].append(progName)
     if os.path.exists(passedFile.abspath):
         Alias('test-reset', testenv.Command('reset-%s%s' % (subdir, progName),