diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index a8e7523e5..5938a5fc8 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+option(LINK_WITH_PTHREAD "Explicitly link mbed TLS library to pthread." OFF)
+
 set(libs
     mbedtls
 )
@@ -10,6 +12,10 @@ if(ENABLE_ZLIB_SUPPORT)
     set(libs ${libs} ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
 endif(ENABLE_ZLIB_SUPPORT)
 
+if(LINK_WITH_PTHREAD)
+    set(libs ${libs} pthread)
+endif(LINK_WITH_PTHREAD)
+
 find_package(Perl)
 if(NOT PERL_FOUND)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Cannot build test suites without Perl")