diff --git a/.gitlab-ci/meson-build.sh b/.gitlab-ci/meson-build.sh
index 0cc59d9..82f00e0 100755
--- a/.gitlab-ci/meson-build.sh
+++ b/.gitlab-ci/meson-build.sh
@@ -1,9 +1,40 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
 
+set -x
 if [[ -f .meson_environment ]]; then
 	. .meson_environment
 fi
 
+# If test args are set, we assume we want to run the tests
+MESON_RUN_TEST="$MESON_TEST_ARGS"
+
+while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
+	case $1 in
+		--skip-setup)
+			shift
+			MESON_SKIP_SETUP="1"
+			;;
+		--skip-build)
+			shift
+			MESON_SKIP_BUILD="1"
+			;;
+		--skip-test)
+			shift
+			MESON_RUN_TEST=""
+			;;
+		--run-test)
+			shift
+			MESON_RUN_TEST="1"
+			;;
+		*)
+			echo "Unknow commandline argument $1"
+			exit 1
+			;;
+	esac
+done
+
 if [[ -z "$MESON_BUILDDIR" ]]; then
 	echo "\$MESON_BUILDDIR undefined."
 	exit 1
@@ -11,40 +42,44 @@ fi
 
 # emulate a few gitlab variables to make it easier to
 # run and debug locally.
-if [[ -z "$CI_JOB_ID" ]] || [[ -z "$CI_JOB_NAME" ]] || [[ -z "$CI_PROJECT_NAME" ]]; then
+if [[ -z "$CI_JOB_ID" ]] || [[ -z "$CI_JOB_NAME" ]]; then
 	echo "Missing \$CI_JOB_ID or \$CI_JOB_NAME".
-	CI_PROJECT_NAME=$(basename $PWD)
+	CI_PROJECT_NAME=$(basename "$PWD")
 	CI_JOB_ID=$(date +%s)
-	CI_JOB_NAME='${CI_PROJECT_NAME}-job-local'
+	CI_JOB_NAME="$CI_PROJECT_NAME-job-local"
 	echo "Simulating gitlab environment: "
 	echo " CI_JOB_ID=$CI_JOB_ID"
 	echo " CI_JOB_NAME=$CI_JOB_NAME"
-	echo " CI_PROJECT_NAME=$CI_PROJECT_NAME"
 fi
 
+if [[ -n "$FDO_CI_CONCURRENT" ]]; then
+	jobcount="-j$FDO_CI_CONCURRENT"
+	export MESON_TESTTHREADS="$FDO_CI_CONCURRENT"
+fi
 
 echo "*************************************************"
 echo "builddir: $MESON_BUILDDIR"
 echo "meson args: $MESON_ARGS"
 echo "ninja args: $NINJA_ARGS"
 echo "meson test args: $MESON_TEST_ARGS"
+echo "job count: ${jobcount-0}"
 echo "*************************************************"
 
 set -e
 
-rm -rf "$MESON_BUILDDIR"
-meson "$MESON_BUILDDIR" $MESON_ARGS
+if [[ -z "$MESON_SKIP_SETUP" ]]; then
+	rm -rf "$MESON_BUILDDIR"
+	meson setup "$MESON_BUILDDIR" $MESON_ARGS
+fi
 meson configure "$MESON_BUILDDIR"
-ninja -C "$MESON_BUILDDIR" $NINJA_ARGS
 
-if [[ -z "$MESON_TEST_ARGS" ]]; then
-    exit 0
+if [[ -z "$MESON_SKIP_BUILD" ]]; then
+	if [[ -n "$NINJA_ARGS" ]]; then
+		ninja_args="--ninja-args $NINJA_ARGS"
+	fi
+	meson compile -v -C "$MESON_BUILDDIR" $jobcount $ninja_args
 fi
 
-# we still want to generate the reports, even if meson test fails
-set +e
-meson test -C "$MESON_BUILDDIR" $MESON_TEST_ARGS --print-errorlogs
-exit_code=$?
-set -e
-
-exit $exit_code
+if [[ -n "$MESON_RUN_TEST" ]]; then
+	meson test -C "$MESON_BUILDDIR" $MESON_TEST_ARGS --print-errorlogs
+fi