diff --git a/nix/compile.nix b/nix/compile.nix
index 677e26c7..4e3fdd7a 100644
--- a/nix/compile.nix
+++ b/nix/compile.nix
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ let
 
       strictDeps = true;
       cargoExtraArgs = "--locked --features ${featuresStr}";
+      cargoTestExtraArgs = "--workspace";
 
       nativeBuildInputs = [
         pkgsNative.protobuf
@@ -143,12 +144,6 @@ let
       CARGO_TARGET_X86_64_UNKNOWN_LINUX_GNU_LINKER = "clang";
     });
 
-  testArgs = commonArgs // {
-    pname = "garage-tests";
-    cargoExtraArgs = "${commonArgs.cargoExtraArgs} --tests --workspace";
-    CARGO_PROFILE = "test";
-  };
-
 in rec {
   toolchain = toolchainFn pkgs;
 
@@ -178,18 +173,17 @@ in rec {
 
   # ---- testing garage ----
 
-  garage-test-deps = craneLib.buildDepsOnly testArgs;
-  # cargoArtifacts = garage would do nothing for this derivation
-  # because it's not the same profile
-  # this is a truly independent build
+  garage-test-bin = craneLib.cargoBuild (commonArgs // {
+    cargoArtifacts = garage-deps;
 
-  garage-test-bin = craneLib.cargoBuild (testArgs // {
-    cargoArtifacts = garage-test-deps;
+    pname = "garage-tests";
 
+    CARGO_PROFILE = "test";
+    cargoExtraArgs = "${commonArgs.cargoExtraArgs} --tests --workspace";
     doCheck = false;
   });
 
-  garage-test = craneLib.cargoTest (testArgs // {
+  garage-test = craneLib.cargoTest (commonArgs // {
     cargoArtifacts = garage-test-bin;
     nativeBuildInputs = commonArgs.nativeBuildInputs ++ [
       pkgs.cacert