diff --git a/tests/docker/Makefile.include b/tests/docker/Makefile.include
index f1a0c5d..0ec59b2 100644
--- a/tests/docker/Makefile.include
+++ b/tests/docker/Makefile.include
@@ -8,13 +8,19 @@
 
 HOST_ARCH = $(if $(ARCH),$(ARCH),$(shell uname -m))
 
+# These variables can be set by the user to limit the set of docker
+# images and tests to a more restricted subset
+TESTS ?= %
+IMAGES ?= %
+
 DOCKER_SUFFIX := .docker
 DOCKER_FILES_DIR := $(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/dockerfiles
 # we don't run tests on intermediate images (used as base by another image)
 DOCKER_PARTIAL_IMAGES := debian10 debian11
 # we don't directly build virtual images (they are used to build other images)
 DOCKER_VIRTUAL_IMAGES := debian-bootstrap debian-toolchain empty
-DOCKER_IMAGES := $(sort $(filter-out $(DOCKER_VIRTUAL_IMAGES), $(notdir $(basename $(wildcard $(DOCKER_FILES_DIR)/*.docker)))))
+__IMAGES := $(sort $(filter-out $(DOCKER_VIRTUAL_IMAGES), $(notdir $(basename $(wildcard $(DOCKER_FILES_DIR)/*.docker)))))
+DOCKER_IMAGES := $(if $(IMAGES), $(filter $(IMAGES), $(__IMAGES)), $(__IMAGES))
 DOCKER_TARGETS := $(patsubst %,docker-image-%,$(DOCKER_IMAGES))
 # Use a global constant ccache directory to speed up repetitive builds
 DOCKER_CCACHE_DIR := $$HOME/.cache/qemu-docker-ccache
@@ -23,16 +29,14 @@
 endif
 DOCKER_REGISTRY := $(if $(REGISTRY),$(REGISTRY),$(DOCKER_DEFAULT_REGISTRY))
 
-DOCKER_TESTS := $(notdir $(shell \
-	find $(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/ -name 'test-*' -type f))
+__TESTS := $(notdir $(shell \
+		find $(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/ -name 'test-*' -type f))
+DOCKER_TESTS := $(if $(TESTS), $(filter $(TESTS), $(__TESTS)), $(__TESTS))
 
 ENGINE := auto
 
 DOCKER_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/docker.py --engine $(ENGINE)
 
-TESTS ?= %
-IMAGES ?= %
-
 CUR_TIME := $(shell date +%Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S.$$$$)
 DOCKER_SRC_COPY := $(BUILD_DIR)/docker-src.$(CUR_TIME)
 
@@ -274,8 +278,8 @@
 	@echo '    TARGET_LIST=a,b,c    Override target list in builds.'
 	@echo '    EXTRA_CONFIGURE_OPTS="..."'
 	@echo '                         Extra configure options.'
-	@echo '    IMAGES="a b c ..":   Filters which images to build or run.'
-	@echo '    TESTS="x y z .."     Filters which tests to run (for docker-test).'
+	@echo '    IMAGES="a b c ..":   Restrict available images to subset.'
+	@echo '    TESTS="x y z .."     Restrict available tests to subset.'
 	@echo '    J=[0..9]*            Overrides the -jN parameter for make commands'
 	@echo '                         (default is 1)'
 	@echo '    DEBUG=1              Stop and drop to shell in the created container'