diff --git a/cmake/modules/AppUtilities.cmake b/cmake/modules/AppUtilities.cmake
index 3077f98..d6a1fc0 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/AppUtilities.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/AppUtilities.cmake
@@ -72,6 +72,14 @@ function (add_appstream_file)
         FILES "${APPSTREAM_FILE}"
         DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR}/metainfo"
         COMPONENT appimage)
+
+    # add test
+    find_program(APPSTREAMCLI_BIN "appstreamcli")
+    if (NOT APPSTREAMCLI_BIN)
+        message(STATUS "Could not find appstreamcli; won't add test/target to validate appstream files")
+    else ()
+        add_test(NAME "${META_TARGET_NAME}_appstream_validation" COMMAND "${APPSTREAMCLI_BIN}" validate "${APPSTREAM_FILE}")
+    endif ()
 endfunction ()
 
 # define function to add *.desktop file and meta info from project meta data
diff --git a/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake b/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake
index 5e8a1ff..5de5f29 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/BasicConfig.cmake
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ endif ()
 
 # add autotools-style check target
 if (NOT TARGET check)
-    set(CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND} -V)
+    set(CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND} -V -E ".*appstream.*")
     add_custom_target(
         check
         COMMAND ${CMAKE_CTEST_COMMAND}