diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index fe716c8bde..dd8d76851d 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ endif()
 
 option(SECP256K1_BUILD_BENCHMARK "Build benchmarks." ON)
 option(SECP256K1_BUILD_TESTS "Build tests." ON)
+option(SECP256K1_BUILD_VERIFY_TESTS "Build tests with -DVERIFY." ${SECP256K1_BUILD_TESTS})
+mark_as_advanced(SECP256K1_BUILD_VERIFY_TESTS)
 option(SECP256K1_BUILD_EXHAUSTIVE_TESTS "Build exhaustive tests." ON)
 option(SECP256K1_BUILD_CTIME_TESTS "Build constant-time tests." ${SECP256K1_VALGRIND})
 option(SECP256K1_BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build examples." OFF)
@@ -258,11 +260,7 @@ endif()
 message("Optional binaries:")
 message("  benchmark ........................... ${SECP256K1_BUILD_BENCHMARK}")
 message("  noverify_tests ...................... ${SECP256K1_BUILD_TESTS}")
-set(tests_status "${SECP256K1_BUILD_TESTS}")
-if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Coverage")
-  set(tests_status OFF)
-endif()
-message("  tests ............................... ${tests_status}")
+message("  tests ............................... ${SECP256K1_BUILD_VERIFY_TESTS}")
 message("  exhaustive tests .................... ${SECP256K1_BUILD_EXHAUSTIVE_TESTS}")
 message("  ctime_tests ......................... ${SECP256K1_BUILD_CTIME_TESTS}")
 message("  examples ............................ ${SECP256K1_BUILD_EXAMPLES}")
diff --git a/CMakePresets.json b/CMakePresets.json
index b35cd80579..b551e222e2 100644
--- a/CMakePresets.json
+++ b/CMakePresets.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "cmakeMinimumRequired": {"major": 3, "minor": 21, "patch": 0}, 
+  "cmakeMinimumRequired": {"major": 3, "minor": 21, "patch": 0},
   "version": 3,
   "configurePresets": [
     {
@@ -14,6 +14,17 @@
         "dev": true,
         "uninitialized": true
       }
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "coverage",
+      "displayName": "Build for coverage analysis",
+      "generator": "Unix Makefiles",
+      "cacheVariables": {
+        "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "gcc",
+        "CMAKE_C_FLAGS": "-DCOVERAGE=1 -g -O0 --coverage",
+        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "None",
+        "SECP256K1_BUILD_VERIFY_TESTS": "OFF"
+      }
     }
   ]
 }
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 24eb0d3011..4da37a8505 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -52,8 +52,8 @@ if(SECP256K1_BUILD_TESTS)
   add_executable(noverify_tests tests.c)
   target_link_libraries(noverify_tests secp256k1_precomputed secp256k1_asm)
   add_test(noverify_tests noverify_tests)
-  if(NOT CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Coverage")
-    add_executable(tests tests.c)
+  if(SECP256K1_BUILD_VERIFY_TESTS)
+    add_executable(tests tests.c ${internal_obj})
     target_compile_definitions(tests PRIVATE VERIFY)
     target_link_libraries(tests secp256k1_precomputed secp256k1_asm)
     add_test(tests tests)
@@ -62,9 +62,9 @@ endif()
 
 if(SECP256K1_BUILD_EXHAUSTIVE_TESTS)
   # Note: do not include secp256k1_precomputed in exhaustive_tests (it uses runtime-generated tables).
-  add_executable(exhaustive_tests tests_exhaustive.c)
-  target_link_libraries(exhaustive_tests secp256k1_asm)
-  target_compile_definitions(exhaustive_tests PRIVATE $<$<NOT:$<CONFIG:Coverage>>:VERIFY>)
+  add_executable(exhaustive_tests tests_exhaustive.c ${common_obj})
+  target_compile_definitions(exhaustive_tests PRIVATE $<$<NOT:$<CONFIG:None>>:VERIFY>)
+  target_link_libraries(exhaustive_tests binary_interface)
   add_test(exhaustive_tests exhaustive_tests)
 endif()