diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d31b645d..9596b145 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ find_package(Boost REQUIRED system thread unit_test_framework)
 include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR})
 link_directories(${Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS})
 
+enable_testing()
+
 add_subdirectory(urdf_parser)
 
 set(PKG_NAME ${PROJECT_NAME})
diff --git a/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt b/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt
index 0e91d7b0..1058d220 100644
--- a/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/urdf_parser/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -24,11 +24,14 @@ target_link_libraries(check_urdf urdfdom_model urdfdom_world)
 add_executable(urdf_to_graphiz src/urdf_to_graphiz.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(urdf_to_graphiz urdfdom_model)
 
+# urdf_mem_test is a binary for testing, not a unit test
 add_executable(urdf_mem_test test/memtest.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(urdf_mem_test urdfdom_model)
 
+# unit test to fix geometry problems
 add_executable(urdf_unit_test test/urdf_unit_test.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(urdf_unit_test urdfdom_model ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
+add_test(urdf_unit_test urdf_unit_test)
 
 INSTALL(TARGETS urdfdom_model DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
 INSTALL(TARGETS urdfdom_world DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})