diff --git a/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a2718ab367
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# The following lines of boilerplate have to be in your project's
+# CMakeLists in this exact order for cmake to work correctly
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
+
+include($ENV{IDF_PATH}/tools/cmake/project.cmake)
+project(test_build)
diff --git a/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/README.txt b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/README.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9d824fa78e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/README.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+This project is for testing if the application can be built with a particular sdkconfig setting.
+
+To add new configuration, create one more sdkconfig.ci.NAME file in this directory.
+To make the configuration target-specific, add a CONFIG_IDF_TARGET="name" line.
+
+If you need to test for anything other than building, create another test project.
diff --git a/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/main/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/main/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1df31fac80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/main/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+idf_component_register(SRCS "test_main.c"
+                       INCLUDE_DIRS ".")
diff --git a/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/main/test_main.c b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/main/test_main.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cb05851571
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/main/test_main.c
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+void app_main(void)
+{
+}
diff --git a/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/sdkconfig.ci.custom_uart b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/sdkconfig.ci.custom_uart
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..80ed1761ac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/test_apps/system/build_test/sdkconfig.ci.custom_uart
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+CONFIG_ESP_CONSOLE_UART_CUSTOM=y