diff --git a/tests/unit/libexpr/main.cc b/tests/unit/libexpr/main.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cf7fcf5a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/libexpr/main.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include "globals.hh"
+#include "logging.hh"
+
+using namespace nix;
+
+int main (int argc, char **argv) {
+    if (argc > 1 && std::string_view(argv[1]) == "__build-remote") {
+        printError("test-build-remote: not supported in libexpr unit tests");
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    // Disable build hook. We won't be testing remote builds in these unit tests. If we do, fix the above build hook.
+    settings.buildHook = {};
+
+    #if __linux__ // should match the conditional around sandboxBuildDir declaration.
+
+    // When building and testing nix within the host's Nix sandbox, our store dir will be located in the host's sandboxBuildDir, e.g.:
+    // Host
+    //   storeDir = /nix/store
+    //   sandboxBuildDir = /build
+    // This process
+    //   storeDir = /build/foo/bar/store
+    //   sandboxBuildDir = /build
+    // However, we have a rule that the store dir must not be inside the storeDir, so we need to pick a different sandboxBuildDir.
+    settings.sandboxBuildDir = "/test-build-dir-instead-of-usual-build-dir";
+    #endif
+
+    #if __APPLE__
+    // Avoid this error, when already running in a sandbox:
+    // sandbox-exec: sandbox_apply: Operation not permitted
+    settings.sandboxMode = smDisabled;
+    setEnv("_NIX_TEST_NO_SANDBOX", "1");
+    #endif
+
+    ::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
+    return RUN_ALL_TESTS();
+}