diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index fedba4851..690e76d1c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -76,27 +76,10 @@ c4_pack_project()
 
 # extern libraries, used only for testing/benchmarking
 if(RYML_BUILD_TESTS OR RYML_BUILD_BENCHMARKS)
-    set(ed ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/subprojects) # casual ryml extern dir (these projects are not part of ryml and are downloaded and compiled on the fly)
     # these are used both for testing and benchmarking
     c4_require_subproject(c4fs REMOTE
         GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/biojppm/c4fs
         GIT_TAG master)
-    c4_require_subproject(libyaml REMOTE
-        GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/yaml/libyaml
-        GIT_TAG master
-      OVERRIDE BUILD_TESTING OFF
-      SET_FOLDER_TARGETS ext yaml)
-    c4_import_remote_proj(yaml-cpp ${ed}/yaml-cpp REMOTE
-        GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/jbeder/yaml-cpp
-        # the master branch regularly screws up on windows builds.
-        # so use fixed pre-validated commit hashes
-        GIT_TAG 587b24e2eedea1afa21d79419008ca5f7bda3bf4
-      OVERRIDE YAML_CPP_BUILD_TESTS OFF YAML_CPP_BUILD_TOOLS OFF YAML_CPP_BUILD_CONTRIB OFF YAML_CPP_BUILD_INSTALL OFF
-      SET_FOLDER_TARGETS ext yaml-cpp format)
-    set(ryml_yaml_cpp_inc ${ed}/yaml-cpp/src/include)
-    if(MSVC)
-        target_compile_definitions(yaml-cpp PUBLIC -D_SILENCE_CXX17_ITERATOR_BASE_CLASS_DEPRECATION_WARNING)
-    endif()
 endif()
 
 c4_add_dev_targets()
diff --git a/bm/CMakeLists.txt b/bm/CMakeLists.txt
index 60b570d3b..899bae942 100644
--- a/bm/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/bm/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,29 @@
 c4_setup_benchmarking()
 
-# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-# json libs that will be compared with ryml (and the other yaml libs)
+# thirdparty libs that will be compared with ryml
 
 set(_ed ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/ext) # casual ryml extern dir (these projects are not part of ryml and are downloaded and compiled on the fly)
 
+# libyaml
+c4_require_subproject(libyaml REMOTE
+    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/yaml/libyaml
+    GIT_TAG master
+  OVERRIDE BUILD_TESTING OFF
+  SET_FOLDER_TARGETS ext yaml)
+
+# yaml-cpp
+c4_import_remote_proj(yaml-cpp ${_ed}/yaml-cpp REMOTE
+    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/jbeder/yaml-cpp
+    # the master branch regularly screws up on windows builds.
+    # so use fixed pre-validated commit hashes
+    GIT_TAG 587b24e2eedea1afa21d79419008ca5f7bda3bf4
+  OVERRIDE YAML_CPP_BUILD_TESTS OFF YAML_CPP_BUILD_TOOLS OFF YAML_CPP_BUILD_CONTRIB OFF YAML_CPP_BUILD_INSTALL OFF
+  SET_FOLDER_TARGETS ext yaml-cpp format)
+set(ryml_yaml_cpp_inc ${_ed}/yaml-cpp/src/include)
+if(MSVC)
+    target_compile_definitions(yaml-cpp PUBLIC -D_SILENCE_CXX17_ITERATOR_BASE_CLASS_DEPRECATION_WARNING)
+endif()
+
 # jsoncpp needs to be compiled
 c4_require_subproject(jsoncpp REMOTE
     GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/open-source-parsers/jsoncpp
diff --git a/bm/bm_parse.cpp b/bm/bm_parse.cpp
index 6d08f157e..6da869abf 100644
--- a/bm/bm_parse.cpp
+++ b/bm/bm_parse.cpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #include <ryml.hpp>
 #include <ryml_std.hpp>
 #include <c4/fs/fs.hpp>
-#include "../test/libyaml.hpp"
+#include "./libyaml.hpp"
 
 #include <vector>
 #include <iostream>
diff --git a/test/libyaml.hpp b/bm/libyaml.hpp
similarity index 100%
rename from test/libyaml.hpp
rename to bm/libyaml.hpp
diff --git a/changelog/current.md b/changelog/current.md
index 58c1d8e83..e90a37eb0 100644
--- a/changelog/current.md
+++ b/changelog/current.md
@@ -10,9 +10,10 @@
   Tree expected = parse("{keyval0: val0, keyval1: {}, keyval2: []}");
   assert(emitrs<std::string>(t) == emitrs<std::string>(expected));
   ```
-- Add support for compilation with emscripten (WebAssembly+javascript) ([PR #173](https://github.com/biojppm/rapidyaml/pull/173)).
+- Add support for compilation with emscripten (WebAssembly+javascript) ([PR #176](https://github.com/biojppm/rapidyaml/pull/176)).
 
 ### Fixes
 
 - Prefer passing `substr` and `csubstr` by value instead of const reference ([PR #171](https://github.com/biojppm/rapidyaml/pull/171))
 - Fix [#173](https://github.com/biojppm/rapidyaml/issues/173): add alias target `ryml::ryml` ([PR #174](https://github.com/biojppm/rapidyaml/pull/174))
+- Speedup compilation of tests by removing linking with yaml-cpp and libyaml. ([PR #177](https://github.com/biojppm/rapidyaml/pull/177))
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 375200acd..5d08a4bf5 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,9 +24,9 @@ if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL GNU)
     endif()
 endif()
 c4_add_library(ryml-_testlib LIBRARY_TYPE STATIC
-    SOURCES test_case.hpp test_case.cpp libyaml.hpp
+    SOURCES test_case.hpp test_case.cpp
     INC_DIRS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR} ${ryml_yaml_cpp_inc}
-    LIBS ryml c4fs yaml yaml-cpp gtest
+    LIBS ryml c4fs gtest
     FOLDER test)
 if(RYML_DBG)
     target_compile_definitions(ryml-_testlib PUBLIC RYML_DBG)
diff --git a/test/test_case.hpp b/test/test_case.hpp
index 3b98e0ba6..abeba4c1b 100644
--- a/test/test_case.hpp
+++ b/test/test_case.hpp
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef _TEST_CASE_HPP_
 #define _TEST_CASE_HPP_
 
-#include <vector>
-
-#include "./libyaml.hpp"
-
+#include "c4/std/vector.hpp"
+#include "c4/std/string.hpp"
 #include <c4/yml/yml.hpp>
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
 #include <functional>
@@ -417,12 +415,8 @@ struct CaseNode
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 typedef enum {
-    IGNORE_LIBYAML_PARSE_FAIL = (1<<0),
-    IGNORE_YAMLCPP_PARSE_FAIL = (1<<1),
-    EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR = (1<<2),
-    RESOLVE_REFS = (1<<3),
-    IGNORE_THIRDPARTY_PARSE_FAIL = IGNORE_LIBYAML_PARSE_FAIL|IGNORE_YAMLCPP_PARSE_FAIL,
-    HAS_PARSE_ERROR = EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR|IGNORE_THIRDPARTY_PARSE_FAIL,
+    EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR = (1<<0),
+    RESOLVE_REFS = (1<<1),
 } TestCaseFlags_e;
 
 
diff --git a/test/test_double_quoted.cpp b/test/test_double_quoted.cpp
index 0229bf364..b2b6dc24a 100644
--- a/test/test_double_quoted.cpp
+++ b/test/test_double_quoted.cpp
@@ -374,7 +374,7 @@ R"("This is a key\nthat has multiple lines\n": and this is its value
   L{N(QK, "This is a key\nthat has multiple lines\n", "and this is its value")}
 ),
 
-C("dquoted, example 2.1", IGNORE_LIBYAML_PARSE_FAIL|IGNORE_YAMLCPP_PARSE_FAIL,
+C("dquoted, example 2.1",
 R"("This is a key
 
 that has multiple lines
diff --git a/test/test_github_issues.cpp b/test/test_github_issues.cpp
index d248f0e78..8246891cb 100644
--- a/test/test_github_issues.cpp
+++ b/test/test_github_issues.cpp
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ L{
 }
 ),
 
-C("github35/expected_error11", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("github35/expected_error11", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(
 # *segfault* // not anymore!
 - key1: true1
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ R"(
   LineCol(4, 1)
 ),
 
-C("github35/expected_error12", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("github35/expected_error12", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(
 # *segfault* // not anymore!
 - key2: true2
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ R"(
   LineCol(4, 1)
 ),
 
-C("github35/expected_error21", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("github35/expected_error21", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(
 # *segfault* // not anymore!
 - key1: true1
@@ -516,7 +516,7 @@ R"(
   LineCol(4, 15)
 ),
 
-C("github35/expected_error22", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("github35/expected_error22", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(
 # *segfault* // not anymore!
 - key2: true2
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ R"(
   LineCol(4, 15)
 ),
 
-C("github128/1", RESOLVE_REFS | HAS_PARSE_ERROR, "a: *invalid"),
+C("github128/1", RESOLVE_REFS | EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR, "a: *invalid"),
 C("github128/2", RESOLVE_REFS/* | HAS_PARSE_ERROR*/, "*", N(DOCVAL, "*")),
 
 C("github129", RESOLVE_REFS, R"(
diff --git a/test/test_plain_scalar.cpp b/test/test_plain_scalar.cpp
index 1771e2c1b..ceacaa63f 100644
--- a/test/test_plain_scalar.cpp
+++ b/test/test_plain_scalar.cpp
@@ -662,7 +662,7 @@ R"(
   }
 ),
 
-C("plain scalar, do not accept ': ' mid line", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("plain scalar, do not accept ': ' mid line", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(- Several lines of text,
   with special:characters, like:this-or-this -
   - and some "quotes" of various 'types'.
@@ -671,7 +671,7 @@ R"(- Several lines of text,
   LineCol(4, 11)
 ),
 
-C("plain scalar, do not accept ': ' start line", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("plain scalar, do not accept ': ' start line", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(
 - Several lines of text,
   with special:characters, like:this-or-this -
@@ -682,7 +682,7 @@ R"(
   LineCol(6, 3)
 ),
 
-C("plain scalar, do not accept ': ' at line end", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("plain scalar, do not accept ': ' at line end", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(- Several lines of text,
   with special:characters, like:this-or-this -
   - and some "quotes" of various 'types'.
@@ -691,7 +691,7 @@ R"(- Several lines of text,
   LineCol(4, 36)
 ),
 
-C("plain scalar, do not accept ':' at line end", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("plain scalar, do not accept ':' at line end", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(- Several lines of text,
   with special:characters, like:this-or-this -
   - and some "quotes" of various 'types'.
@@ -767,7 +767,7 @@ and yet more, deindented
    }
 ),
 
-C("plain scalar, explicit, early end, seq", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("plain scalar, explicit, early end, seq", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"([
   a plain scalar
     with several lines
@@ -775,7 +775,7 @@ R"([
   LineCol(4, 1)
 ),
 
-C("plain scalar, explicit, early end, map", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("plain scalar, explicit, early end, map", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"({foo:
   a plain scalar
     with several lines
diff --git a/test/test_scalar_names.cpp b/test/test_scalar_names.cpp
index 6bd805af5..ddc7c4829 100644
--- a/test/test_scalar_names.cpp
+++ b/test/test_scalar_names.cpp
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ L{_(a), _(b:b), _(c{c), _(cc{), _(c}c), _(cc}), _(c!c), _(cc!), _(.foo),  _(.),
 }
 ),
 
-C("funny names, seq expl", IGNORE_LIBYAML_PARSE_FAIL,
+C("funny names, seq expl",
 R"([a, b, c, .foo, ., -a, +b, /b, :c, $g])",
 L{_(a), _(b), _(c), _(.foo), _(.), _(-a), _(+b), _(/b), _(:c), _($g)}
 ),
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ L{__(a), __(b), __(c), __(.foo), __(.), __(-a), __(+b), __(/b), __(:c), __($g),
   N(QKV, "*", "*"), N(QKV, "*a", "*a")}
 ),
 
-C("funny names, map expl", IGNORE_LIBYAML_PARSE_FAIL,
+C("funny names, map expl",
 R"({a: a, b: b, c: c, .foo: .foo, .: ., -a: -a, +b: +b, /b: /b, :c: :c, $g: $g,
     '*': '*', '*a':'*a'})",
 L{__(a), __(b), __(c), __(.foo), __(.), __(-a), __(+b), __(/b), __(:c), __($g),
diff --git a/test/test_simple_map.cpp b/test/test_simple_map.cpp
index 485aeca2c..e69938c54 100644
--- a/test/test_simple_map.cpp
+++ b/test/test_simple_map.cpp
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ h }i: val }000
 }
 ),
 
-C("simple map expl, scalars with special chars, comma", IGNORE_YAMLCPP_PARSE_FAIL,
+C("simple map expl, scalars with special chars, comma",
 R"({
 a0,b0: val0,0000
 c0,d0: val0, 0000
diff --git a/test/test_simple_seq.cpp b/test/test_simple_seq.cpp
index 8375cbda8..da4843de8 100644
--- a/test/test_simple_seq.cpp
+++ b/test/test_simple_seq.cpp
@@ -531,28 +531,28 @@ L{
    }),
 }),
 
-C("simple seq, invalid character 1", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("simple seq, invalid character 1", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(- 0   # this is a foo
 }
 )",
   LineCol(2, 1)
 ),
 
-C("simple seq, invalid character 2", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("simple seq, invalid character 2", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(- 0   # this is a foo
 ]
 )",
   LineCol(2, 1)
 ),
 
-C("simple seq, invalid character 3", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("simple seq, invalid character 3", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(- 0   # this is a foo
 :
 )",
   LineCol(2, 1)
 ),
 
-C("simple seq, invalid character 4", HAS_PARSE_ERROR,
+C("simple seq, invalid character 4", EXPECT_PARSE_ERROR,
 R"(- 0   # this is a foo
 abcdef!
 )",