diff --git a/.github/workflows/linux.yaml b/.github/workflows/linux.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0482f443
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/linux.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+name: Linux Unit tests
+on:
+    pull_request: {}
+    push: {}
+
+jobs:
+
+  build:
+    name: Build
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+
+    - name: Set up Go 1.x
+      uses: actions/setup-go@v2
+      with:
+        go-version: ^1.17
+      id: go
+
+    - name: Check out code into the Go module directory
+      uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+    - name: Sanity test
+      env:
+        GITHUB_ACTIONS: true
+      run: |
+        export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin
+        make
+        echo "is running in github actions: $GITHUB_ACTIONS"
+        make sanity-test
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 108850cf..7711daac 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -18,5 +18,5 @@ all: build
 include release-tools/build.make
 
 .PHONY: sanity-test
-sanity-test: build
+sanity-test:
 	./test/sanity/run-test.sh