diff --git a/Sources/Build/BuildPlan.swift b/Sources/Build/BuildPlan.swift
index ef48869edf4..320113e221f 100644
--- a/Sources/Build/BuildPlan.swift
+++ b/Sources/Build/BuildPlan.swift
@@ -92,7 +92,6 @@ extension BuildParameters {
             if configuration == .debug {
                 addIndexStoreArguments = true
             } else if target.type == .test {
-                // 👀 not sure
                 // Test discovery requires an index store for the test target to discover the tests
                 addIndexStoreArguments = true
             } else {
@@ -636,7 +635,7 @@ public final class SwiftTargetBuildDescription {
         args += buildParameters.indexStoreArguments(for: target)
         args += buildParameters.toolchain.extraSwiftCFlags
         args += optimizationArguments
-        args += testingArguments(for: target)
+        args += testingArguments
         args += ["-g"]
         args += ["-j\(buildParameters.jobs)"]
         args += activeCompilationConditions
@@ -758,7 +757,7 @@ public final class SwiftTargetBuildDescription {
         result += buildParameters.targetTripleArgs(for: target)
         result += ["-swift-version", swiftVersion.rawValue]
         result += optimizationArguments
-        result += testingArguments(for: target)
+        result += testingArguments
         result += ["-g"]
         result += ["-j\(buildParameters.jobs)"]
         result += activeCompilationConditions
@@ -807,7 +806,7 @@ public final class SwiftTargetBuildDescription {
         result += buildParameters.indexStoreArguments(for: target)
         result += buildParameters.toolchain.extraSwiftCFlags
         result += optimizationArguments
-        result += testingArguments(for: target)
+        result += testingArguments
         result += ["-g"]
         result += ["-j\(buildParameters.jobs)"]
         result += activeCompilationConditions
@@ -962,18 +961,11 @@ public final class SwiftTargetBuildDescription {
     }
 
     /// Testing arguments according to the build configuration.
-    private func testingArguments(for target: ResolvedTarget) -> [String] {
-        //return ["-enable-testing"]
-        switch buildParameters.configuration {
-        case .debug:
+    private var testingArguments: [String] {
+        if buildParameters.enableTestability {
             return ["-enable-testing"]
-        case .release:
-            // 👀 not sure
-            if target.type == .test {
-                return ["-enable-testing"]
-            } else {
-                return []
-            }
+        } else {
+            return []
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/Sources/Commands/SwiftTestTool.swift b/Sources/Commands/SwiftTestTool.swift
index a7952385163..ff6a2a8358b 100644
--- a/Sources/Commands/SwiftTestTool.swift
+++ b/Sources/Commands/SwiftTestTool.swift
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
             let workspace = try swiftTool.getActiveWorkspace()
             let root = try swiftTool.getWorkspaceRoot()
             let rootManifest = workspace.loadRootManifests(packages: root.packages, diagnostics: swiftTool.diagnostics)[0]
-            let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParameters()
+            let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParametersForTest()
             print(codeCovAsJSONPath(buildParameters: buildParameters, packageName: rootManifest.name))
 
         case .generateLinuxMain:
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
         case .runSerial:
             let toolchain = try swiftTool.getToolchain()
             let testProducts = try buildTestsIfNeeded(swiftTool: swiftTool)
-            let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParameters()
+            let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParametersForTest()
 
             // Clean out the code coverage directory that may contain stale
             // profraw files from a previous run of the code coverage tool.
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
             let tests = testSuites
                 .filteredTests(specifier: options.testCaseSpecifier)
                 .skippedTests(specifier: options.testCaseSkip)
-            let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParameters()
+            let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParametersForTest()
 
             // If there were no matches, emit a warning and exit.
             if tests.isEmpty {
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
         // Merge all the profraw files to produce a single profdata file.
         try mergeCodeCovRawDataFiles(swiftTool: swiftTool)
 
-        let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParameters()
+        let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParametersForTest()
         for product in testProducts {
             // Export the codecov data as JSON.
             let jsonPath = codeCovAsJSONPath(
@@ -356,7 +356,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
         let llvmProf = try swiftTool.getToolchain().getLLVMProf()
 
         // Get the profraw files.
-        let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParameters()
+        let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParametersForTest()
         let codeCovFiles = try localFileSystem.getDirectoryContents(buildParameters.codeCovPath)
 
         // Construct arguments for invoking the llvm-prof tool.
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
     private func exportCodeCovAsJSON(to path: AbsolutePath, testBinary: AbsolutePath, swiftTool: SwiftTool) throws {
         // Export using the llvm-cov tool.
         let llvmCov = try swiftTool.getToolchain().getLLVMCov()
-        let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParameters()
+        let buildParameters = try swiftTool.buildParametersForTest()
         let args = [
             llvmCov.pathString,
             "export",
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
       #if os(macOS)
         let data: String = try withTemporaryFile { tempFile in
             let args = [xctestHelperPath(swiftTool: swiftTool).pathString, path.pathString, tempFile.path.pathString]
-            var env = try constructTestEnvironment(toolchain: try swiftTool.getToolchain(), options: swiftOptions, buildParameters: swiftTool.buildParameters())
+            var env = try constructTestEnvironment(toolchain: try swiftTool.getToolchain(), options: swiftOptions, buildParameters: swiftTool.buildParametersForTest())
             // Add the sdk platform path if we have it. If this is not present, we
             // might always end up failing.
             if let sdkPlatformFrameworksPath = Destination.sdkPlatformFrameworkPaths() {
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ public struct SwiftTestTool: SwiftCommand {
             return try localFileSystem.readFileContents(tempFile.path).validDescription ?? ""
         }
       #else
-        let env = try constructTestEnvironment(toolchain: try swiftTool.getToolchain(), options: swiftOptions, buildParameters: swiftTool.buildParameters())
+        let env = try constructTestEnvironment(toolchain: try swiftTool.getToolchain(), options: swiftOptions, buildParameters: swiftTool.buildParametersForTest())
         let args = [path.description, "--dump-tests-json"]
         let data = try Process.checkNonZeroExit(arguments: args, environment: env)
       #endif
@@ -1100,3 +1100,12 @@ private extension Diagnostic.Message {
         .warning("No matching test cases were run")
     }
 }
+
+private extension SwiftTool {
+    func buildParametersForTest() throws -> BuildParameters {
+        var parameters = try self.buildParameters()
+        // for test commands, alway enable building with testability enabled
+        parameters.enableTestability = true
+        return parameters
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/SPMBuildCore/BuildParameters.swift b/Sources/SPMBuildCore/BuildParameters.swift
index 353df2c0583..5a6f701f282 100644
--- a/Sources/SPMBuildCore/BuildParameters.swift
+++ b/Sources/SPMBuildCore/BuildParameters.swift
@@ -127,6 +127,9 @@ public struct BuildParameters: Encodable {
 
     /// Extra arguments to pass when using xcbuild.
     public var xcbuildFlags: [String]
+        
+    // Whether the building for testability is enabled.
+    public var enableTestability: Bool
 
     public init(
         dataPath: AbsolutePath,
@@ -174,6 +177,13 @@ public struct BuildParameters: Encodable {
         self.useExplicitModuleBuild = useExplicitModuleBuild
         self.isXcodeBuildSystemEnabled = isXcodeBuildSystemEnabled
         self.printManifestGraphviz = printManifestGraphviz
+        // decide on testability based on config
+        switch self.configuration {
+        case .debug:
+            self.enableTestability = true
+        case .release:
+            self.enableTestability = false
+        }
     }
 
     /// The path to the build directory (inside the data directory).
diff --git a/Sources/XCBuildSupport/PIFBuilder.swift b/Sources/XCBuildSupport/PIFBuilder.swift
index da1db3353d2..3cdf3aa6253 100644
--- a/Sources/XCBuildSupport/PIFBuilder.swift
+++ b/Sources/XCBuildSupport/PIFBuilder.swift
@@ -20,19 +20,18 @@ import PackageGraph
 /// The parameters required by `PIFBuilder`.
 public struct PIFBuilderParameters {
 
-    // 👀 not sure if this should go also, how is it used?
-    /// Whether or not test discovery is enabled.
-    public let enableTestDiscovery: Bool
+    /// Whether or not build for testability is enabled.
+    public let enableTestability: Bool
 
     /// Whether to create dylibs for dynamic library products.
     public let shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts: Bool
 
     /// Creates a `PIFBuilderParameters` instance.
     /// - Parameters:
-    ///   - enableTestDiscovery: Whether or not test discovery is enabled.
+    ///   - enableTestability: Whether or not build for testability is enabled.
     ///   - shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts: Whether to create dylibs for dynamic library products.
-    public init(enableTestDiscovery: Bool, shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts: Bool) {
-        self.enableTestDiscovery = enableTestDiscovery
+    public init(enableTestability: Bool, shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts: Bool) {
+        self.enableTestability = enableTestability
         self.shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts = shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts
     }
 }
@@ -324,7 +323,7 @@ final class PackagePIFProjectBuilder: PIFProjectBuilder {
         releaseSettings[.GCC_OPTIMIZATION_LEVEL] = "s"
         releaseSettings[.SWIFT_OPTIMIZATION_LEVEL] = "-Owholemodule"
 
-        if parameters.enableTestDiscovery {
+        if parameters.enableTestability {
             releaseSettings[.ENABLE_TESTABILITY] = "YES"
         }
 
diff --git a/Sources/XCBuildSupport/XcodeBuildSystem.swift b/Sources/XCBuildSupport/XcodeBuildSystem.swift
index bb70ffeed25..d01d80e6168 100644
--- a/Sources/XCBuildSupport/XcodeBuildSystem.swift
+++ b/Sources/XCBuildSupport/XcodeBuildSystem.swift
@@ -218,8 +218,7 @@ extension BuildConfiguration {
 extension PIFBuilderParameters {
     public init(_ buildParameters: BuildParameters) {
         self.init(
-            // 👀 not sure
-            enableTestDiscovery: true,
+            enableTestability: buildParameters.enableTestability,
             shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts: buildParameters.shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts
         )
     }
diff --git a/Tests/XCBuildSupportTests/PIFBuilderTests.swift b/Tests/XCBuildSupportTests/PIFBuilderTests.swift
index fe91b21fe8f..8ed7658ca2b 100644
--- a/Tests/XCBuildSupportTests/PIFBuilderTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/XCBuildSupportTests/PIFBuilderTests.swift
@@ -2176,7 +2176,7 @@ extension PIFBuilderParameters {
         shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts: Bool = false
     ) -> Self {
         PIFBuilderParameters(
-            enableTestDiscovery: false,
+            enableTestability: false,
             shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts: shouldCreateDylibForDynamicProducts
         )
     }