diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index d188cf11b1..5ae31c6fa5 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+2006-03-21  Thomas Vander Stichele  <thomas at apestaart dot org>
+
+	* configure.ac:
+	* tests/check/Makefile.am:
+	  disable some tests when we don't have a registry
+	* tests/check/gst/gstutils.c: (gst_utils_suite):
+	  don't build the part that needs parsing
+
 2006-03-21  Thomas Vander Stichele  <thomas at apestaart dot org>
 
 	* gst/Makefile.am
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 6558674e06..da51f21fc6 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ fi
 AC_SUBST(GST_LOADSAVE_DOC_TYPES)
 GST_CHECK_SUBSYSTEM_DISABLE(PARSE,[command-line parser])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(GST_DISABLE_PARSE, test "x$GST_DISABLE_PARSE" = "xyes")
+if test "x$GST_DISABLE_PARSE" = xyes; then
+  AC_DEFINE(GST_DISABLE_PARSE, 1,
+    [Define if pipeline parsing code is disabled])
+fi
 GST_CHECK_SUBSYSTEM_DISABLE(TRACE,[tracing subsystem])
 AM_CONDITIONAL(GST_DISABLE_TRACE, test "x$GST_DISABLE_TRACE" = "xyes")
 GST_CHECK_SUBSYSTEM_DISABLE(ALLOC_TRACE,[allocation tracing])
diff --git a/tests/check/Makefile.am b/tests/check/Makefile.am
index 15f233ae57..309d579289 100644
--- a/tests/check/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/check/Makefile.am
@@ -33,41 +33,50 @@ else
 PARSE_CHECKS = pipelines/simple-launch-lines pipelines/cleanup pipelines/parse-launch
 endif
 
-check_PROGRAMS =				\
+# if it's calling gst_element_factory_make(), it will probably not work without
+# a registry
+if GST_DISABLE_REGISTRY
+REGISTRY_CHECKS =
+else
+REGISTRY_CHECKS =				\
 	gst/gst				     	\
-	gst/gstabi			     	\
 	gst/gstbin			     	\
-        gst/gstbuffer				\
-        gst/gstbus				\
-	gst/gstcaps     			\
 	gst/gstelement				\
 	gst/gstevent				\
 	gst/gstghostpad				\
+	gst/gstplugin				\
+	gst/gstquery				\
+	gst/gstutils				\
+	generic/sinks				\
+	elements/fakesink			\
+	elements/fakesrc			\
+	elements/fdsrc		          	\
+	elements/identity			\
+	libs/basesrc				\
+	libs/controller				\
+	pipelines/stress
+endif
+
+check_PROGRAMS =				\
+	gst/gstabi			     	\
+        gst/gstbuffer				\
+        gst/gstbus				\
+	gst/gstcaps     			\
 	gst/gstiterator 			\
 	gst/gstmessage	 			\
 	gst/gstminiobject 			\
 	gst/gstobject				\
 	gst/gstpad				\
-	gst/gstplugin				\
-	gst/gstquery				\
 	gst/gstsegment				\
 	gst/gstsystemclock			\
 	gst/gststructure			\
 	gst/gsttag				\
 	gst/gsttask				\
-	gst/gstutils				\
 	gst/gstvalue				\
-	elements/fakesink			\
-	elements/fakesrc			\
-	elements/fdsrc		          	\
-	elements/identity			\
-	generic/sinks				\
 	generic/states				\
 	$(PARSE_CHECKS)				\
-	pipelines/stress			\
+	$(REGISTRY_CHECKS)			\
 	libs/libsabi				\
-	libs/basesrc				\
-	libs/controller				\
 	libs/gdp				\
 	libs/gstnetclientclock			\
 	libs/gstnettimeprovider
diff --git a/tests/check/gst/gstutils.c b/tests/check/gst/gstutils.c
index c840645d62..5e1bc39fa3 100644
--- a/tests/check/gst/gstutils.c
+++ b/tests/check/gst/gstutils.c
@@ -332,6 +332,7 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_gdouble_to_guint64)
 
 GST_END_TEST;
 
+#ifndef GST_DISABLE_PARSE
 GST_START_TEST (test_parse_bin_from_description)
 {
   struct
@@ -409,6 +410,7 @@ GST_START_TEST (test_parse_bin_from_description)
 }
 
 GST_END_TEST;
+#endif
 
 Suite *
 gst_utils_suite (void)
@@ -424,7 +426,9 @@ gst_utils_suite (void)
   tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_math_scale_random);
   tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_guint64_to_gdouble);
   tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_gdouble_to_guint64);
+#ifndef GST_DISABLE_PARSE
   tcase_add_test (tc_chain, test_parse_bin_from_description);
+#endif
   return s;
 }