diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/package.py b/lib/spack/spack/package.py
index 99796104a5a2423c2878fb7ff0eb3ab524eb9cbf..9483f370dd4990cf7b5cd0cbe4df4894b0408ebe 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/package.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/package.py
@@ -1055,6 +1055,27 @@ def do_fake_install(self):
         mkdirp(self.prefix.lib)
         mkdirp(self.prefix.man1)
 
+    def _if_make_target_execute(self, target):
+        try:
+            # Check if we have a makefile
+            file = [x for x in ('Makefile', 'makefile') if os.path.exists(x)]
+            file = file.pop()
+        except IndexError:
+            tty.msg('No Makefile found in the build directory')
+            return
+
+        # Check if 'target' is in the makefile
+        regex = re.compile('^' + target + ':')
+        with open(file, 'r') as f:
+            matches = [line for line in f.readlines() if regex.match(line)]
+
+        if not matches:
+            tty.msg('Target \'' + target + ':\' not found in Makefile')
+            return
+
+        # Execute target
+        inspect.getmodule(self).make(target)
+
     def _get_needed_resources(self):
         resources = []
         # Select the resources that are needed for this build
@@ -1747,6 +1768,10 @@ def _run_default_function(self):
         except AttributeError:
             tty.msg('Skipping default sanity checks [method `check` not implemented]')  # NOQA: ignore=E501
 
+    def check(self):
+        self._if_make_target_execute('test')
+        self._if_make_target_execute('check')
+
     # This will be used as a registration decorator in user
     # packages, if need be
     PackageBase.sanity_check('install')(PackageBase.sanity_check_prefix)
@@ -1814,10 +1839,14 @@ def install(self, spec, prefix):
     def _run_default_function(self):
         try:
             fn = getattr(self, 'check')
-            tty.msg('Trying default sanity checks [check]')
+            tty.msg('Trying default build sanity checks [check]')
             fn()
         except AttributeError:
-            tty.msg('Skipping default sanity checks [method `check` not implemented]')  # NOQA: ignore=E501
+            tty.msg('Skipping default build sanity checks [method `check` not implemented]')  # NOQA: ignore=E501
+
+    def check(self):
+        with working_dir(self.build_directory()):
+            self._if_make_target_execute('test')
 
     PackageBase.sanity_check('install')(PackageBase.sanity_check_prefix)
 
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py
index c92ed284bbab4b56dd0d8ac12aad96a490e1c7e6..cbb7501034b31fc78ea8986192bfb9750a498a0f 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/hdf5/package.py
@@ -144,7 +144,8 @@ def configure_args(self):
         return ["--with-zlib=%s" % spec['zlib'].prefix] + extra_args
 
     def check(self):
-        "Build and run a small program to test the installed HDF5 library"
+        super(Hdf5, self).check()
+        # Build and run a small program to test the installed HDF5 library
         spec = self.spec
         print("Checking HDF5 installation...")
         checkdir = "spack-check"
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lzo/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lzo/package.py
index 05229b6a621662084ed75c8aad53a233ccabce5b..e9c98842f4e3a2dd6734b13c5971e24d35ed2c0b 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lzo/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/lzo/package.py
@@ -42,7 +42,3 @@ def configure_args(self):
             '--disable-dependency-tracking',
             '--enable-shared'
         ]
-
-    def check(self):
-        make('check')
-        make('test')
diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qhull/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qhull/package.py
index 3816b377eb3d1f759b2736c7de666191b0fdd998..4456c16bd2bad8b420fc8c80ffe6fe305a67bbf8 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qhull/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/qhull/package.py
@@ -44,6 +44,3 @@ class Qhull(CMakePackage):
             url="http://www.qhull.org/download/qhull-2012.1-src.tgz")
 
     depends_on('cmake@2.6:', type='build')
-
-    def check(self):
-        make('test')