diff --git a/include/nm-test-utils.h b/include/nm-test-utils.h
index 3630d78bcd..0067fa7446 100644
--- a/include/nm-test-utils.h
+++ b/include/nm-test-utils.h
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@
  *     - respect g_test_quick(), if the command line contains '-mslow', '-mquick', '-mthorough'.
  *     - use compile time default
  *
+ * "p=PATH"|"s=PATH": passes the path to g_test_init() as "-p" and "-s", respectively.
+ *   Unfortunately, these options conflict with "--tap" which our makefile passes to the
+ *   tests, thus it's only useful outside of `make check`.
+ *
  *******************************************************************************/
 
 #include <arpa/inet.h>
@@ -257,6 +261,8 @@ __nmtst_init (int *argc, char ***argv, gboolean assert_logging, const char *log_
 	gboolean test_quick = FALSE;
 	gboolean test_quick_set = FALSE;
 	gboolean test_quick_argv = FALSE;
+	gs_unref_ptrarray GPtrArray *p_tests = NULL;
+	gs_unref_ptrarray GPtrArray *s_tests = NULL;
 
 	if (!out_set_logging)
 		out_set_logging = &_out_set_logging;
@@ -315,6 +321,14 @@ __nmtst_init (int *argc, char ***argv, gboolean assert_logging, const char *log_
 				sudo_cmd = g_strdup (&debug[strlen ("sudo-cmd=")]);
 			} else if (!g_ascii_strcasecmp (debug, "no-expect-message")) {
 				no_expect_message = TRUE;
+			} else if (!g_ascii_strncasecmp (debug, "p=", strlen ("p="))) {
+				if (!p_tests)
+					p_tests = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_free);
+				g_ptr_array_add (p_tests, g_strdup (&debug[strlen ("p=")]));
+			} else if (!g_ascii_strncasecmp (debug, "s=", strlen ("s="))) {
+				if (!s_tests)
+					s_tests = g_ptr_array_new_with_free_func (g_free);
+				g_ptr_array_add (s_tests, g_strdup (&debug[strlen ("s=")]));
 			} else if (!g_ascii_strcasecmp (debug, "slow") || !g_ascii_strcasecmp (debug, "thorough")) {
 				test_quick = FALSE;
 				test_quick_set = TRUE;
@@ -353,7 +367,13 @@ __nmtst_init (int *argc, char ***argv, gboolean assert_logging, const char *log_
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (argc && !g_test_initialized ()) {
+	if (!argc || g_test_initialized ()) {
+		if (p_tests || s_tests) {
+			char *msg = g_strdup_printf (">>> nmtst: ignore -p and -s options for test which calls g_test_init() itself");
+
+			g_array_append_val (debug_messages, msg);
+		}
+	} else {
 		/* g_test_init() is a variadic function, so we cannot pass it
 		 * (variadic) arguments. If you need to pass additional parameters,
 		 * call nmtst_init() with argc==NULL and call g_test_init() yourself. */
@@ -364,6 +384,7 @@ __nmtst_init (int *argc, char ***argv, gboolean assert_logging, const char *log_
 		GPtrArray *arg_array = g_ptr_array_new ();
 		gs_free char **arg_array_c = NULL;
 		int arg_array_n, j;
+		static char **s_tests_x, **p_tests_x;
 
 		if (*argc) {
 			for (i = 0; i < *argc; i++)
@@ -374,6 +395,21 @@ __nmtst_init (int *argc, char ***argv, gboolean assert_logging, const char *log_
 		if (test_quick_set && !test_quick_argv)
 			g_ptr_array_add (arg_array, "-m=quick");
 
+		if (!__nmtst_internal.test_tap_log) {
+			for (i = 0; p_tests && i < p_tests->len; i++) {
+				g_ptr_array_add (arg_array, "-p");
+				g_ptr_array_add (arg_array, p_tests->pdata[i]);
+			}
+			for (i = 0; s_tests && i < s_tests->len; i++) {
+				g_ptr_array_add (arg_array, "-s");
+				g_ptr_array_add (arg_array, s_tests->pdata[i]);
+			}
+		} else if (p_tests || s_tests) {
+			char *msg = g_strdup_printf (">>> nmtst: ignore -p and -s options for tap-tests");
+
+			g_array_append_val (debug_messages, msg);
+		}
+
 		g_ptr_array_add (arg_array, NULL);
 
 		arg_array_n = arg_array->len - 1;
@@ -399,6 +435,18 @@ __nmtst_init (int *argc, char ***argv, gboolean assert_logging, const char *log_
 			}
 			*argc = j;
 		}
+
+		/* we must "leak" the test paths because they are not cloned by g_test_init(). */
+		if (!__nmtst_internal.test_tap_log) {
+			if (p_tests) {
+				p_tests_x = (char **) g_ptr_array_free (p_tests, FALSE);
+				p_tests = NULL;
+			}
+			if (s_tests) {
+				s_tests_x = (char **) g_ptr_array_free (s_tests, FALSE);
+				s_tests = NULL;
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	if (test_quick_set)