diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a6e2f595a..4abf8457d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -338,62 +338,6 @@ NL_ENABLE_TESTS([yes])
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL([OPENTHREAD_BUILD_TESTS], [test "${nl_cv_build_tests}" = "yes"])
 
-# Check whether to run only the minimum set of tests.
-
-AC_ARG_WITH(tests,
-    [AS_HELP_STRING([--with-tests=TESTS],
-        [Specify the tests from one of: all, subset1, subset2, subset3, subset4, subset5 @<:@default=all@:>@.])],
-    [
-        case "${with_tests}" in
-
-        all|subset1|subset2|subset3|subset4|subset5)
-            ;;
-        *)
-            AC_MSG_ERROR([Invalid value ${with_tests} for --with-tests])
-            ;;
-        esac
-    ],
-    [with_tests=all])
-
-case ${with_tests} in
-
-    all)
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET1=yes
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET2=yes
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET3=yes
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET4=yes
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET5=yes
-        ;;
-
-    subset1)
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET1=yes
-        ;;
-
-    subset2)
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET2=yes
-        ;;
-
-    subset3)
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET3=yes
-        ;;
-
-    subset4)
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET4=yes
-        ;;
-
-    subset5)
-        OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET5=yes
-        ;;
-
-esac
-
-AC_SUBST(OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET1)
-AM_CONDITIONAL([OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET1], [test "${OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET1}" = "yes"])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET2], [test "${OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET2}" = "yes"])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET3], [test "${OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET3}" = "yes"])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET4], [test "${OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET4}" = "yes"])
-AM_CONDITIONAL([OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET5], [test "${OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET5}" = "yes"])
-
 # Check for Python and Python libraries used in the tests
 if test "${nl_cv_build_tests}" = "yes"; then
     AC_MSG_CHECKING([checking for Python and Python libraries used in tests.])
diff --git a/tests/scripts/thread-cert/Makefile.am b/tests/scripts/thread-cert/Makefile.am
index d8774764c..f72ecf8f0 100644
--- a/tests/scripts/thread-cert/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/scripts/thread-cert/Makefile.am
@@ -146,11 +146,8 @@ EXTRA_DIST                                                         = \
     test_network_layer.py                                            \
     $(NULL)
 
-if OPENTHREAD_BUILD_TESTS
-
-# First, list all essential program and script tests that MUST be run.
-
-check_PROGRAMS =
+check_PROGRAMS                                                     = \
+    $(NULL)
 
 check_SCRIPTS                                                      = \
     test_coap.py                                                     \
@@ -162,11 +159,6 @@ check_SCRIPTS                                                      = \
     test_mle.py                                                      \
     test_network_data.py                                             \
     test_network_layer.py                                            \
-    $(NULL)
-
-if OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET1
-
-check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_1_01_RouterAttach.py                                      \
     Cert_5_1_02_ChildAddressTimeout.py                               \
     Cert_5_1_03_RouterAddressReallocation.py                         \
@@ -176,13 +168,6 @@ check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_1_07_MaxChildCount.py                                     \
     Cert_5_1_08_RouterAttachConnectivity.py                          \
     Cert_5_1_09_REEDAttachConnectivity.py                            \
-    $(NULL)
-
-endif # OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET1
-
-if OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET2
-
-check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_1_10_RouterAttachLinkQuality.py                           \
     Cert_5_1_11_REEDAttachLinkQuality.py                             \
     Cert_5_1_12_NewRouterNeighborSync.py                             \
@@ -199,13 +184,6 @@ check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_3_03_AddressQuery.py                                      \
     Cert_5_3_04_AddressMapCache.py                                   \
     Cert_5_3_05_RoutingLinkQuality.py                                \
-    $(NULL)
-
-endif # OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET2
-
-if OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET3
-
-check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_3_06_RouterIdMask.py                                      \
     Cert_5_3_06b_RouterIdMask.py                                     \
     Cert_5_3_07_DuplicateAddress.py                                  \
@@ -214,13 +192,6 @@ check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_3_10_AddressQuery.py                                      \
     Cert_5_5_01_LeaderReset.py                                       \
     Cert_5_5_02_LeaderReboot.py                                      \
-    $(NULL)
-
-endif # OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET3
-
-if OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET4
-
-check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_5_03_SplitMergeChildren.py                                \
     Cert_5_5_04_SplitMergeRouters.py                                 \
     Cert_5_5_05_SplitMergeREED.py                                    \
@@ -228,13 +199,6 @@ check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_5_08_SplitRoutersLostLeader.py                            \
     Cert_5_6_01_NetworkDataRegisterBeforeAttachLeader.py             \
     Cert_5_6_02_NetworkDataRegisterBeforeAttachRouter.py             \
-    $(NULL)
-
-endif # OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET4
-
-if OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET5
-
-check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_5_6_03_NetworkDataRegisterAfterAttachLeader.py              \
     Cert_5_6_04_NetworkDataRegisterAfterAttachRouter.py              \
     Cert_5_6_05_NetworkDataRegisterAfterAttachRouter.py              \
@@ -286,8 +250,6 @@ check_SCRIPTS                                                     += \
     Cert_9_2_18_RollBackActiveTimestamp.py                           \
     $(NULL)
 
-endif # OPENTHREAD_TESTS_SUBSET5
-
 TESTS_ENVIRONMENT                                                  = \
     export                                                           \
     top_builddir='$(top_builddir)'                                   \
@@ -322,6 +284,4 @@ XFAIL_NCP_TESTS                                                    = \
 
 XFAIL_TESTS = $(if $(filter $(NODE_TYPE),ncp-sim),$(XFAIL_NCP_TESTS))
 
-endif # OPENTHREAD_BUILD_TESTS
-
 include $(abs_top_nlbuild_autotools_dir)/automake/post.am