diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index b3f4867..8a3cccd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ jobs:
   am-test:
     name: am-test
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      CI: true
     steps:
     - name: checkout
       uses: actions/checkout@v2
diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index fbfb4cd..98fbdff 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ fn main() {
     return;
   }
 
+  // if we are running tests in CI, we don't need to generate the verilator code
+  if std::env::var("CI").is_ok() {
+    println!("cargo:test=1");
+    return;
+  }
+
   let out_dir = env::var("OUT_DIR").unwrap();
   let out_dir = PathBuf::from(out_dir);
   let _ = fs::remove_dir_all(&out_dir);