diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index d44490ca2e..36a4d75bb2 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ commitlint:
     # https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/gstreamer/-/issues/3197
     GI_SCANNER_DISABLE_CACHE: "1"
   script:
-    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh
+    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh build/
     - ./gst-env.py gst-inspect-1.0 --version
     - ./gst-env.py gst-inspect-1.0
   after_script:
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ commitlint:
     MESON_ARGS: "${SIMPLE_BUILD}"
     SUBPROJECTS_CACHE_DIR: "/subprojects"
   script:
-    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh
+    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh build/
     - ./gst-env.py gst-inspect-1.0 --version
     - ./gst-env.py gst-inspect-1.0
     - G_DEBUG=fatal_criticals ./gst-env.py gst-inspect-1.0 --print-all --gst-disable-registry-fork > /dev/null
@@ -640,8 +640,8 @@ build macos:
     - mkdir -p ~/.config/gdb
     - echo "set auto-load safe-path /" >> ~/.config/gdb/gdbinit
 
-    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh
-    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/test.sh
+    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh build/
+    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/test.sh build/ $TEST_SUITE
   after_script:
     - mv build/meson-logs/ meson-logs
   artifacts:
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ check video formats:
     WL_TOKEN: "GST_WL_VIDEO_FORMATS"
     WL_HEADER: "subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/gst-libs/gst/wayland/gstwlvideoformat.h"
   script:
-    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh
+    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh build/
     - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/check-video-formats.sh
   rules:
     - changes:
@@ -739,7 +739,7 @@ gstreamer-full static build:
       -Ddoc=disabled
     SUBPROJECTS_CACHE_DIR: "/subprojects"
   script:
-  - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh
+  - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh build/
   - meson test -C build -v test-gst-full
 
 gstreamer-full-minimal static build:
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ gstreamer-full-minimal static build:
     SUBPROJECTS_CACHE_DIR: "/subprojects"
 
   script:
-  - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh
+  - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh build/
   - meson test -C build -v test-gst-full
   - meson test -C build test-gst-full-features --test-args "-e filesrc,identity,fakesink -E filesink,capsfilter -t audio/x-wav -T video/vivo -d alsadeviceprovider -D v4l2deviceprovider -l GstVideoMultiviewFlagsSet"
   - strip build/libgstreamer-full-1.0.so
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ fluster v4l2-stateless on visl:
       -Dgst-plugins-good:matroska=enabled
     SUBPROJECTS_CACHE_DIR: "/subprojects"
   script:
-  - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh
+  - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build.sh build/
   - meson test -C build -v --suite v4l2-stateless-decoders
   artifacts:
     reports:
@@ -941,7 +941,7 @@ valgrind ges:
     SUBPROJECTS_CACHE_DIR: "/subprojects"
     CI_ARTIFACTS_URL: "${CI_PROJECT_URL}/-/jobs/${CI_JOB_ID}/artifacts/raw/"
   script:
-    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build-docs.sh
+    - $CI_PROJECT_DIR/ci/scripts/build-docs.sh build/
   artifacts:
     when: always
     expire_in: "7 days"
diff --git a/ci/scripts/build-docs.sh b/ci/scripts/build-docs.sh
index 8fee83b515..b2c7e45fbb 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/build-docs.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/build-docs.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
+builddir="$1"
+
+if [[ -z "$builddir" ]]; then
+  echo "Usage: build-docs.sh <build_directory>"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 set -eux
 
 export PATH="/usr/local/cargo/bin/:/usr/local/bin/:$PATH"
@@ -9,21 +16,21 @@ export CARGO_HOME="/usr/local/cargo"
 ./ci/scripts/handle-subprojects-cache.py --cache-dir /subprojects subprojects/
 
 echo "$MESON_ARGS"
-meson setup build/ $MESON_ARGS
+meson setup "$builddir" $MESON_ARGS
 ccache --show-stats
 
-ninja -C build/ update_girs
+ninja -C "$builddir" update_girs
 # Ignore modifications to wrap files made by meson
 git checkout $(git ls-files 'subprojects/*.wrap')
 ./ci/scripts/check-diff.py "gir files"
 
-./gst-env.py ninja -C build/ plugins_doc_caches
+./gst-env.py ninja -C "$builddir" plugins_doc_caches
 
 # Ignore modifications to wrap files made by meson
 git checkout $(git ls-files 'subprojects/*.wrap')
 ./ci/scripts/check-diff.py
 
 export GI_TYPELIB_PATH="$PWD/girs"
-hotdoc run --conf-file build/subprojects/gst-docs/GStreamer-doc.json
+hotdoc run --conf-file "$builddir/subprojects/gst-docs/GStreamer-doc.json"
 
-mv build/subprojects/gst-docs/GStreamer-doc/html documentation/
+mv "$builddir/subprojects/gst-docs/GStreamer-doc/html" documentation/
diff --git a/ci/scripts/build.sh b/ci/scripts/build.sh
index bd62a0862b..6f559b5ed0 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/build.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/build.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
+builddir="$1"
+
+if [[ -z "$builddir" ]]; then
+  echo "Usage: build.sh <build_directory>"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 set -eux
 
 # Expects:
@@ -31,7 +38,7 @@ if [ "$GST_WERROR" = "true" ]; then
 fi
 
 date -R
-meson setup build/ --native-file ./ci/meson/gst-ci-cflags.ini  ${ARGS}
+meson setup "$builddir" --native-file ./ci/meson/gst-ci-cflags.ini  ${ARGS}
 date -R
 
 if command -v ccache
@@ -40,7 +47,7 @@ then
 fi
 
 date -R
-meson compile -C build/ --jobs "$jobs"
+meson compile -C "$builddir" --jobs "$jobs"
 date -R
 
 if command -v ccache
diff --git a/ci/scripts/test.sh b/ci/scripts/test.sh
index 57b299b159..a13d660891 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/test.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/test.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 #! /bin/bash
 
+builddir="$1"
+tests="$2"
+
+if [[ -z "$builddir" || -z "$tests" ]]; then
+  echo "Usage: test.sh <build_directory> <test_name>"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 set -eux
 
 timeout="${TIMEOUT_FACTOR:="2"}"
@@ -7,10 +15,11 @@ validate="${EXTRA_VALIDATE_ARGS:=""}"
 parent="${CI_PROJECT_DIR:-$(pwd)}"
 
 export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="$(mktemp -p $(pwd) -d xdg-runtime-XXXXXX)"
-echo "-> Running ${TEST_SUITE}"
+echo "-> Running $tests"
 
 ./gst-env.py \
-    gst-validate-launcher ${TEST_SUITE} \
+    "--builddir=$builddir" \
+    gst-validate-launcher "$tests" \
     --check-bugs \
     --dump-on-failure \
     --mute \