diff --git a/setup/publish.py b/setup/publish.py
index eb83130243..1ba8c7ed25 100644
--- a/setup/publish.py
+++ b/setup/publish.py
@@ -110,7 +110,8 @@ class Publish(Command):
         if 'PUBLISH_BUILD_DONE' not in os.environ:
             subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'check'])
             subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'build'])
-            subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'test'])
+            if 'SKIP_CALIBRE_TESTS' not in os.environ:
+                subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'test'])
             subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'pot'])
             subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, 'setup.py', 'translations'])
             os.environ['PUBLISH_BUILD_DONE'] = '1'