diff --git a/build-scripts/test-recursor b/build-scripts/test-recursor
index b0999567f1dc..947ede06ef7e 100755
--- a/build-scripts/test-recursor
+++ b/build-scripts/test-recursor
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export PDNS=${PDNS:-"/usr/sbin/pdns_server"}
 export PDNSUTIL=${PDNSUTIL:-"/usr/bin/pdnsutil"}
 export SDIG=${SDIG:-"/usr/bin/sdig"}
 export NSEC3DIG=${NSEC3DIG:-"/usr/bin/nsec3dig"}
-export NOTIFY=${NOTIFY:-"/usr/bin/notify"}
+export NOTIFY=${NOTIFY:-"/usr/bin/pdns_notify"}
 export SAXFR=${SAXFR:-"/usr/bin/saxfr"}
 
 if [ "$0" != "./build-scripts/test-recursor" ]; then
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index c201c5cc0883..9afe50adb186 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1093,14 +1093,23 @@ endif
 
 if get_option('unit-tests-backends')
   start_test_stop = files('regression-tests' / 'start-test-stop')[0]
-endif
 
-if get_option('module-geoip') != 'disabled' and get_option('unit-tests-backends')
-  test(
-    'pdns-auth-backend-geoip',
-    start_test_stop,
-    args: ['5300', 'geoip'],
-    workdir: product_source_dir / 'regression-tests',
-    depends: [pdns_auth],
-  )
+  test_modules = {
+    'geoip': 'module-geoip',
+    'lmdb': 'module-lmdb',
+    'lmdb-nodnssec': 'module-lmdb',
+  }
+
+  foreach module, option: test_modules
+    if get_option(option) != 'disabled'
+      test(
+        'pdns-auth-backend-' + module,
+        start_test_stop,
+        args: ['5300', module],
+        workdir: product_source_dir / 'regression-tests',
+        depends: [pdns_auth, pdns_auth_util, sdig, saxfr, pdns_auth_notify, nsec3dig],
+        is_parallel: false,
+      )
+    endif
+  endforeach
 endif
diff --git a/regression-tests.nobackend/rectify-axfr/command b/regression-tests.nobackend/rectify-axfr/command
index 5cc875fc827c..ee936fdad30e 100755
--- a/regression-tests.nobackend/rectify-axfr/command
+++ b/regression-tests.nobackend/rectify-axfr/command
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ sed '/directory/ { s@./zones@../regression-tests/zones@ }' ../regression-tests/n
 
 cat >> ./named.conf << __EOF__
 zone "."{
-	type primary;
-	file "../../regression-tests.rootzone/zones/ROOT";
+        type primary;
+        file "../../regression-tests.rootzone/zones/ROOT";
 };
 __EOF__
 
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ echo ANALYZE\; | sqlite3 pdns.sqlite3
 
 for zone in $(grep 'zone ' named.conf | cut -f2 -d\")
 do
-	$PDNSUTIL $ARGS set-nsec3 $zone "1 0 1 abcd" >&2
-	$PDNSUTIL $ARGS add-zone-key $zone rsasha256 1024 zsk active >&2
+        $PDNSUTIL $ARGS set-nsec3 $zone "1 0 1 abcd" >&2
+        $PDNSUTIL $ARGS add-zone-key $zone rsasha256 1024 zsk active >&2
 done
 
 $RUNWRAPPER $PDNS --daemon=no --local-port=$port --socket-dir=./          \
diff --git a/regression-tests/backends/lmdb-slave b/regression-tests/backends/lmdb-slave
index 697ee7aa8f5f..62057691b07a 100644
--- a/regression-tests/backends/lmdb-slave
+++ b/regression-tests/backends/lmdb-slave
@@ -1,82 +1,82 @@
-	context=${context}-presigned-lmdb
-	cat > pdns-lmdb2.conf << __EOF__
+        context=${context}-presigned-lmdb
+        cat > pdns-lmdb2.conf << __EOF__
 module-dir=./modules
 launch=lmdb
 lmdb-filename=./pdns2.lmdb
 __EOF__
 
-	rm -f pdns2.lmdb*
-	zones=0
-	for zone in $(grep 'zone ' named.conf  | cut -f2 -d\" | grep -v '^nztest.com$' | perl -e 'print reverse <STDIN>')
-	do
-		zones=$((zones+1))
-		if [ "$zone" = "example.com" ]; then
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
-		fi
-		if [ "$zone" = "test.com" ]; then
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone other-catalog.invalid
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone '{"consumer":{"coo":"catalog.invalid","unique":"42"}}'
-		fi
-		if [ "$zone" = "tsig.com" ]; then
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.2:$port
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone catalog.invalid
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone "{\"consumer\":{\"unique\":\"$($SAXFR 127.0.0.1 $port catalog.invalid | grep $zone | grep PTR | cut -d'.' -f1)\"}}"
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 import-tsig-key test $ALGORITHM $KEY
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 activate-tsig-key tsig.com test secondary
-		fi
-		if [ "$zone" = "stest.com" ]; then
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone other-catalog.invalid
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone "{\"consumer\":{\"coo\":\"catalog.invalid\",\"unique\":\"$($SAXFR 127.0.0.1 $port catalog.invalid | grep $zone | grep PTR | cut -d'.' -f1)\"}}"
-			if [[ $skipreasons != *nolua* ]]; then
-				$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-meta stest.com AXFR-SOURCE 127.0.0.2
-			fi
-		fi
-		if [ "$zone" = "wtest.com" ]; then
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone catalog.invalid
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone '{"consumer":{"unique":"42"}}'
-		fi
-		if [ "$zone" = "." ]; then
-			$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
-		fi
-	done
+        rm -f pdns2.lmdb*
+        zones=0
+        for zone in $(grep 'zone ' named.conf  | cut -f2 -d\" | grep -v '^nztest.com$' | perl -e 'print reverse <STDIN>')
+        do
+                zones=$((zones+1))
+                if [ "$zone" = "example.com" ]; then
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
+                fi
+                if [ "$zone" = "test.com" ]; then
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone other-catalog.invalid
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone '{"consumer":{"coo":"catalog.invalid","unique":"42"}}'
+                fi
+                if [ "$zone" = "tsig.com" ]; then
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.2:$port
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone catalog.invalid
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone "{\"consumer\":{\"unique\":\"$($SAXFR 127.0.0.1 $port catalog.invalid | grep $zone | grep PTR | cut -d'.' -f1)\"}}"
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 import-tsig-key test $ALGORITHM $KEY
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 activate-tsig-key tsig.com test secondary
+                fi
+                if [ "$zone" = "stest.com" ]; then
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone other-catalog.invalid
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone "{\"consumer\":{\"coo\":\"catalog.invalid\",\"unique\":\"$($SAXFR 127.0.0.1 $port catalog.invalid | grep $zone | grep PTR | cut -d'.' -f1)\"}}"
+                        if [[ $skipreasons != *nolua* ]]; then
+                                $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-meta stest.com AXFR-SOURCE 127.0.0.2
+                        fi
+                fi
+                if [ "$zone" = "wtest.com" ]; then
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog $zone catalog.invalid
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-options-json $zone '{"consumer":{"unique":"42"}}'
+                fi
+                if [ "$zone" = "." ]; then
+                        $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone $zone 127.0.0.1:$port
+                fi
+        done
 
-	# setup catalog zone
-	if [ $zones -ne 1 ] # detect root tests
-	then
-		zones=$((zones+1))
-		$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone catalog.invalid 127.0.0.1:$port
-		$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-kind catalog.invalid consumer
+        # setup catalog zone
+        if [ $zones -ne 1 ] # detect root tests
+        then
+                zones=$((zones+1))
+                $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone catalog.invalid 127.0.0.1:$port
+                $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-kind catalog.invalid consumer
 
-		$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone remove.invalid 127.0.0.1:$port
-		$PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog remove.invalid catalog.invalid
-	fi
+                $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 create-secondary-zone remove.invalid 127.0.0.1:$port
+                $PDNSUTIL --config-dir=. --config-name=lmdb2 set-catalog remove.invalid catalog.invalid
+        fi
 
-	port=$((port+100))
+        port=$((port+100))
 
-	$RUNWRAPPER $PDNS2 --daemon=no --local-port=$port --config-dir=. \
-		--config-name=lmdb2 --socket-dir=./ --no-shuffle \
-		--secondary --xfr-cycle-interval=15 --dname-processing --api --api-key=secret &
+        $RUNWRAPPER $PDNS2 --daemon=no --local-port=$port --config-dir=. \
+                --config-name=lmdb2 --socket-dir=./ --no-shuffle \
+                --secondary --xfr-cycle-interval=15 --dname-processing --api --api-key=secret &
 
-	sleep 1
-	$PDNSCONTROL --config-name=lmdb2 --socket-dir=. --no-config retrieve catalog.invalid
+        sleep 1
+        $PDNSCONTROL --config-name=lmdb2 --socket-dir=. --no-config retrieve catalog.invalid
 
-	echo 'waiting for zones to be fetched'
-	loopcount=0
-	while [ $loopcount -lt 30 ]
-	do
-		sleep 5
-		present=$(curl -s -S -H 'X-API-Key: secret' http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/v1/servers/localhost/zones  | jq -r '.[] | .serial' | grep -c -v '^0$')
-		if [ $zones -eq $present ]
-		then
-			break
-		fi
-		let loopcount=loopcount+1
-	done
-	if [ $zones -ne $present ]
-	then
-		echo "AXFR FAILED" >> failed_tests
-		exit
-	fi
+        echo 'waiting for zones to be fetched'
+        loopcount=0
+        while [ $loopcount -lt 30 ]
+        do
+                sleep 5
+                present=$(curl -s -S -H 'X-API-Key: secret' http://127.0.0.1:8081/api/v1/servers/localhost/zones  | jq -r '.[] | .serial' | grep -c -v '^0$')
+                if [ $zones -eq $present ]
+                then
+                        break
+                fi
+                let loopcount=loopcount+1
+        done
+        if [ $zones -ne $present ]
+        then
+                echo "AXFR FAILED" >> failed_tests
+                exit
+        fi
diff --git a/regression-tests/runtests b/regression-tests/runtests
index d1ced13730f8..acf50bd93d5d 100755
--- a/regression-tests/runtests
+++ b/regression-tests/runtests
@@ -46,8 +46,15 @@ spectest=$1
 [ -z $spectest ] && spectest=""
 
 for prog in $SDIG $SAXFR $NOTIFY $NSEC3DIG; do
-  if `echo $prog | grep -q '\.\./pdns'`; then
-    ${MAKE} -C ../pdns ${prog##*../pdns/} || exit
+  if [ -z "$PDNS_BUILD_PATH" ]; then
+    if `echo $prog | grep -q '\.\./pdns'`; then
+      ${MAKE} -C ../pdns ${prog##*../pdns/} || exit
+    fi
+  else
+    if [ ! -x "$prog" ]; then
+      echo "Error: cannot find $prog, please build it."
+      exit 1
+    fi
   fi
 done
 
@@ -66,112 +73,112 @@ touch passed_tests failed_tests skipped_tests
 
 for a in $(find $testsdir -type d | grep -v ^.$ | grep -v .svn | grep -v ^confdir | LC_ALL=C sort)
 do
-	if [ ! -x $a/command ]
-	then
-		continue
-	fi
-	testname=$(basename $a)
-	export testname
-	echo  "$testname: "
-	if [ "${PDNS_DEBUG}" = "YES" ]; then
-		cat $a/description
-	fi
-
-	echo  "$testname: " >> test-results
-	cat $a/description >> test-results
-
-	SKIPIT=0
-	if [ -e $a/skip ]
-	then
-		SKIPIT=1
-		result="	Skipped test $a"
-	else
-		for reason in $skipreasons $context $backend
-		do
-			if [ -e $a/skip.$reason ]
-			then
-				SKIPIT=1
-				result="	Skipped test $a for reason $reason"
-				break
-			fi
-		done
-	fi
-
-	FAIL=0
-	for reason in $skipreasons $context $backend
-	do
-		if [ -e $a/fail.$reason ]
-		then
-			FAIL=1
-			break
-		fi
-	done
-
-	if [ "$spectest" != "" ] && [ "$spectest" != "$testname" ] && [ "$testname" != "00dnssec-grabkeys" ]
-	then
-		SKIPIT=1
-		result="	Skipped test $a because it's not the specified single test"
-	fi
-
-
-	if [ $SKIPIT = 1 ]
-	then
-		echo $testname >> skipped_tests
-		skipped=$[$skipped+1]
-	else
-		$a/command > $a/real_result
-		expected=$a/expected_result
-
-		diffopts="-u"
-		if [ -e $a/expected_result.i ]; then
-			expected=$a/expected_result.i
-			diffopts="${diffopts} -i"
-		fi
-
-		for extracontext in $extracontexts
-		do
-			[ -e "$a/expected_result.$extracontext" ] && expected=$a/expected_result.$extracontext
-		done
-		[ -n "$context" ] && [ -e "$a/expected_result.$context" ] && expected=$a/expected_result.$context
-		diff ${diffopts} $expected $a/real_result > $a/diff 2>&1
-		if [ -s $a/diff ]
-		then
-			if [ $FAIL = 0 ]
-			then
-				result="	Failed test $a"
-				echo $testname >> failed_tests
-				failed=$[$failed+1]
-				if [ "$FIX_TESTS" == "YES" ]
-				then
-					mv -f $a/real_result $expected
-					result="$result (fixed)"
-				fi
-			else
-				result="	Expected failure for reason $reason, test passed $a"
-				echo $testname >> passed_tests
-				passed=$[$passed+1]
-			fi
-		else
-			if [ $FAIL = 0 ]
-			then
-				result="	Passed test $a"
-				echo $testname >> passed_tests
-				passed=$[$passed+1]
-			else
-				result="	Unexpected pass for reason $reason, test failed $a"
-				echo $testname >> failed_tests
-				failed=$[$failed+1]
-			fi
-		fi
-	fi
-	echo "$result"
-	echo
-	echo "$result" >> test-results
-	echo >> test-results
+        if [ ! -x $a/command ]
+        then
+                continue
+        fi
+        testname=$(basename $a)
+        export testname
+        echo  "$testname: "
+        if [ "${PDNS_DEBUG}" = "YES" ]; then
+                cat $a/description
+        fi
+
+        echo  "$testname: " >> test-results
+        cat $a/description >> test-results
+
+        SKIPIT=0
+        if [ -e $a/skip ]
+        then
+                SKIPIT=1
+                result="	Skipped test $a"
+        else
+                for reason in $skipreasons $context $backend
+                do
+                        if [ -e $a/skip.$reason ]
+                        then
+                                SKIPIT=1
+                                result="	Skipped test $a for reason $reason"
+                                break
+                        fi
+                done
+        fi
+
+        FAIL=0
+        for reason in $skipreasons $context $backend
+        do
+                if [ -e $a/fail.$reason ]
+                then
+                        FAIL=1
+                        break
+                fi
+        done
+
+        if [ "$spectest" != "" ] && [ "$spectest" != "$testname" ] && [ "$testname" != "00dnssec-grabkeys" ]
+        then
+                SKIPIT=1
+                result="	Skipped test $a because it's not the specified single test"
+        fi
+
+
+        if [ $SKIPIT = 1 ]
+        then
+                echo $testname >> skipped_tests
+                skipped=$[$skipped+1]
+        else
+                $a/command > $a/real_result
+                expected=$a/expected_result
+
+                diffopts="-u"
+                if [ -e $a/expected_result.i ]; then
+                        expected=$a/expected_result.i
+                        diffopts="${diffopts} -i"
+                fi
+
+                for extracontext in $extracontexts
+                do
+                        [ -e "$a/expected_result.$extracontext" ] && expected=$a/expected_result.$extracontext
+                done
+                [ -n "$context" ] && [ -e "$a/expected_result.$context" ] && expected=$a/expected_result.$context
+                diff ${diffopts} $expected $a/real_result > $a/diff 2>&1
+                if [ -s $a/diff ]
+                then
+                        if [ $FAIL = 0 ]
+                        then
+                                result="	Failed test $a"
+                                echo $testname >> failed_tests
+                                failed=$[$failed+1]
+                                if [ "$FIX_TESTS" == "YES" ]
+                                then
+                                        mv -f $a/real_result $expected
+                                        result="$result (fixed)"
+                                fi
+                        else
+                                result="	Expected failure for reason $reason, test passed $a"
+                                echo $testname >> passed_tests
+                                passed=$[$passed+1]
+                        fi
+                else
+                        if [ $FAIL = 0 ]
+                        then
+                                result="	Passed test $a"
+                                echo $testname >> passed_tests
+                                passed=$[$passed+1]
+                        else
+                                result="	Unexpected pass for reason $reason, test failed $a"
+                                echo $testname >> failed_tests
+                                failed=$[$failed+1]
+                        fi
+                fi
+        fi
+        echo "$result"
+        echo
+        echo "$result" >> test-results
+        echo >> test-results
 done
 
 if [ $failed -gt 0 ]; then
-	echo -n "::error title=Regression-tests::Tests failed. "
+        echo -n "::error title=Regression-tests::Tests failed. "
 fi
 echo -n $passed out of $[$passed+$failed]
 echo -n " ("
diff --git a/regression-tests/start-test-stop b/regression-tests/start-test-stop
index 9c23ae869ac3..c721f36f4197 100755
--- a/regression-tests/start-test-stop
+++ b/regression-tests/start-test-stop
@@ -43,8 +43,6 @@ export FIX_TESTS=${FIX_TESTS:-NO}
 ALGORITHM=${ALGORITHM:="hmac-md5"}
 KEY=${KEY:="kp4/24gyYsEzbuTVJRUMoqGFmN3LYgVDzJ/3oRSP7ys="}
 
-MAKE=${MAKE:-make}
-
 export ALGORITHM
 export KEY
 
@@ -242,8 +240,9 @@ spectest=$5
 testsdir=./tests
 
 for prog in $SDIG $SAXFR $NOTIFY $NSEC3DIG; do
-  if `echo $prog | grep -q '\.\./pdns'`; then
-    ${MAKE} -C ../pdns ${prog##*../pdns/} || exit
+  if [ ! -x "$prog" ]; then
+    echo "Error: cannot find $prog, please build it."
+    exit 1
   fi
 done
 
diff --git a/tasks.py b/tasks.py
index f2b00d5a0a1c..8033253ff664 100644
--- a/tasks.py
+++ b/tasks.py
@@ -735,6 +735,7 @@ def ci_auth_run_unit_tests(c, meson=False):
     if meson:
         suite_timeout_sec = 120
         logfile = 'meson-logs/testlog.txt'
+        c.run(f'touch {repo_home}/regression-tests/tests/verify-dnssec-zone/allow-missing {repo_home}/regression-tests.nobackend/rectify-axfr/allow-missing') # FIXME: can this go?
         res = c.run(f'. {repo_home}/.venv/bin/activate && meson test --verbose -t {suite_timeout_sec}', warn=True)
     else:
         logfile = 'pdns/test-suite.log'