diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ac0e8a5..3c31623 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,5 +2,4 @@ cmake-build-*/
 *build*/
 .idea/
 squashfs-root/
-tests/
 *.AppImage
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 86c2ae5..65066bd 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -12,4 +12,10 @@ set(USE_SYSTEM_CIMG ON CACHE BOOL "Set to OFF to use CImg library bundled in lib
 
 add_subdirectory(lib)
 
-add_subdirectory(src)
\ No newline at end of file
+add_subdirectory(src)
+
+option(BUILD_TEST "Build the tests" ON)
+if(PACKAGE_TESTS)
+    enable_testing()
+    add_subdirectory(tests)
+endif()
diff --git a/tests/AppDirUnitTests.cpp b/tests/AppDirUnitTests.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52d8672
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/AppDirUnitTests.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include  "linuxdeploy/core/appdir.h"
+
+using namespace linuxdeploy::core::appdir;
+using namespace boost::filesystem;
+namespace AppDirUnitTests {
+    class AppDirUnitTestsFixture : public ::testing::Test {
+    public:
+        AppDirUnitTestsFixture() :
+            tmpAppDir(temp_directory_path() / unique_path("linuxdeploy-tests-%%%%-%%%%-%%%%")),
+            appDir(tmpAppDir) {
+        }
+
+        void SetUp() override {
+        }
+
+        void TearDown() override {
+            remove_all(tmpAppDir);
+        }
+
+        ~AppDirUnitTestsFixture() override = default;
+
+        void listDeployedFiles() {
+            std::cout << "Files deployed in AppDir:";
+            recursive_directory_iterator end_itr; // default construction yields past-the-end
+            for (recursive_directory_iterator itr(tmpAppDir); itr != end_itr; itr++) {
+                std::cout << relative(itr->path(), tmpAppDir).string() << std::endl;
+            }
+        }
+
+        path tmpAppDir;
+        AppDir appDir;
+    };
+
+    TEST_F(AppDirUnitTestsFixture, createBasicStructure) {
+        std::set<std::string> expected = {
+            "usr",
+            "usr/bin",
+            "usr/share",
+            "usr/share/icons",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/32x32",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/32x32/apps",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/256x256/apps",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/16x16/apps",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/128x128/apps",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/64x64",
+            "usr/share/icons/hicolor/64x64/apps",
+            "usr/share/applications",
+            "usr/lib",
+        };
+
+        appDir.createBasicStructure();
+
+        recursive_directory_iterator end_itr; // default construction yields past-the-end
+        for (recursive_directory_iterator itr(tmpAppDir); itr != end_itr; itr++) {
+            std::string path = relative(itr->path(), tmpAppDir).string();
+            if (expected.find(path) == expected.end())
+                FAIL();
+            else
+                expected.erase(path);
+        }
+        if (!expected.empty())
+            FAIL();
+
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ea0119
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+if(NOT TARGET gtest)
+    include(AddGoogleTest)
+endif()
+
+add_executable(AppDirUnitTests AppDirUnitTests.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(AppDirUnitTests PRIVATE linuxdeploy_core)
+target_include_directories(AppDirUnitTests PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
+
+add_gtest(AppDirUnitTests)
diff --git a/tests/simple_library/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/simple_library/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8dc1801
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/simple_library/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+add_library(simple_library SHARED simple_library.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(simple_library cairo)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/simple_library/simple_library.cpp b/tests/simple_library/simple_library.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6507e98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/simple_library/simple_library.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#include "CImg.h"
+using namespace cimg_library;
+
+extern "C" {
+void hello_world() {
+    cimg::info();
+}
+}
\ No newline at end of file