diff --git a/.cirrus.yml b/.cirrus.yml
index 0f46cb5eaf..396888fbd3 100644
--- a/.cirrus.yml
+++ b/.cirrus.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ freebsd_12_task:
   install_script:
     - ASSUME_ALWAYS_YES=yes pkg bootstrap -f ;
     - pkg install -y bash curl cyrus-sasl git glib gmake gnutls gsed
-          nettle perl5 pixman pkgconf png usbredir
+          nettle perl5 pixman pkgconf png usbredir ninja
   script:
     - mkdir build
     - cd build
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ macos_task:
   osx_instance:
     image: catalina-base
   install_script:
-    - brew install pkg-config python gnu-sed glib pixman make sdl2 bash
+    - brew install pkg-config python gnu-sed glib pixman make sdl2 bash ninja
   script:
     - mkdir build
     - cd build
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ macos_xcode_task:
     # this is an alias for the latest Xcode
     image: catalina-xcode
   install_script:
-    - brew install pkg-config gnu-sed glib pixman make sdl2 bash
+    - brew install pkg-config gnu-sed glib pixman make sdl2 bash ninja
   script:
     - mkdir build
     - cd build
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 1054ec5d29..d7bfbb8bfe 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ addons:
       - libvdeplug-dev
       - libvte-2.91-dev
       - libzstd-dev
+      - ninja-build
       - sparse
       - uuid-dev
       - gcovr
@@ -177,6 +178,7 @@ jobs:
       addons:
         apt:
           packages:
+            - ninja-build
             - python3-sphinx
             - perl
 
@@ -211,6 +213,10 @@ jobs:
     # gprof/gcov are GCC features
     - name: "GCC gprof/gcov"
       dist: bionic
+      addons:
+        apt:
+          packages:
+            - ninja-build
       env:
         - CONFIG="--enable-gprof --enable-gcov --disable-libssh
                   --target-list=${MAIN_SOFTMMU_TARGETS}"
@@ -281,6 +287,7 @@ jobs:
             - liburcu-dev
             - libusb-1.0-0-dev
             - libvte-2.91-dev
+            - ninja-build
             - sparse
             - uuid-dev
       language: generic
@@ -346,6 +353,7 @@ jobs:
           - libusb-1.0-0-dev
           - libvdeplug-dev
           - libvte-2.91-dev
+          - ninja-build
           # Tests dependencies
           - genisoimage
       env:
@@ -379,6 +387,7 @@ jobs:
           - libusb-1.0-0-dev
           - libvdeplug-dev
           - libvte-2.91-dev
+          - ninja-build
           # Tests dependencies
           - genisoimage
       env:
@@ -411,6 +420,7 @@ jobs:
           - libusb-1.0-0-dev
           - libvdeplug-dev
           - libvte-2.91-dev
+          - ninja-build
           # Tests dependencies
           - genisoimage
       env:
@@ -450,6 +460,7 @@ jobs:
           - libzstd-dev
           - nettle-dev
           - xfslibs-dev
+          - ninja-build
           # Tests dependencies
           - genisoimage
       env:
@@ -463,6 +474,7 @@ jobs:
         apt_packages:
           - libgcrypt20-dev
           - libgnutls28-dev
+          - ninja-build
       env:
         - CONFIG="--disable-containers --disable-system"
 
@@ -493,6 +505,7 @@ jobs:
           - libusb-1.0-0-dev
           - libvdeplug-dev
           - libvte-2.91-dev
+          - ninja-build
       env:
         - TEST_CMD="make check-unit"
         - CONFIG="--disable-containers --disable-tcg --enable-kvm
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos7.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos7.docker
index 46277773bf..8b273725ee 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos7.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos7.docker
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ ENV PACKAGES \
     mesa-libEGL-devel \
     mesa-libgbm-devel \
     nettle-devel \
+    ninja-build \
     perl-Test-Harness \
     pixman-devel \
     python3 \
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos8.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos8.docker
index e29e9657fb..585dfad9be 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos8.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/centos8.docker
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ ENV PACKAGES \
     make \
     mesa-libEGL-devel \
     nettle-devel \
+    ninja-build \
     perl-Test-Harness \
     pixman-devel \
     python36 \
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/debian10.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/debian10.docker
index 1e4188ba22..21cc671d71 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/debian10.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/debian10.docker
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ RUN apt update && \
         gettext \
         git \
         libncurses5-dev \
+        ninja-build \
         pkg-config \
         psmisc \
         python3 \
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/fedora.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/fedora.docker
index 85c975543d..ac79d95418 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/fedora.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/fedora.docker
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ ENV PACKAGES \
     mingw64-SDL2 \
     ncurses-devel \
     nettle-devel \
+    ninja-build \
     nss-devel \
     numactl-devel \
     perl \
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/travis.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/travis.docker
index 591282561b..cd1435a7e9 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/travis.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/travis.docker
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ ENV LC_ALL en_US.UTF-8
 RUN sed -i "s/# deb-src/deb-src/" /etc/apt/sources.list
 RUN apt-get update
 RUN apt-get -y build-dep qemu
-RUN apt-get -y install device-tree-compiler python3 python3-yaml dh-autoreconf gdb strace lsof net-tools gcovr
+RUN apt-get -y install device-tree-compiler python3 python3-yaml dh-autoreconf gdb strace lsof net-tools gcovr ninja-build
 # Travis tools require PhantomJS / Neo4j / Maven accessible
 # in their PATH (QEMU build won't access them).
 ENV PATH /usr/local/phantomjs/bin:/usr/local/phantomjs:/usr/local/neo4j-3.2.7/bin:/usr/local/maven-3.5.2/bin:/usr/local/cmake-3.9.2/bin:/usr/local/clang-5.0.0/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu.docker
index b556ed17d2..b5ef7a8198 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu.docker
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ ENV PACKAGES \
     libxen-dev \
     libzstd-dev \
     make \
+    ninja-build \
     python3-yaml \
     python3-sphinx \
     sparse \
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu1804.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu1804.docker
index a6a7617da6..9b0a19ba5e 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu1804.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu1804.docker
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ ENV PACKAGES \
     make \
     python3-yaml \
     python3-sphinx \
+    ninja-build \
     sparse \
     xfslibs-dev
 RUN apt-get update && \
diff --git a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu2004.docker b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu2004.docker
index f4b9556b9e..17b37cda38 100644
--- a/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu2004.docker
+++ b/tests/docker/dockerfiles/ubuntu2004.docker
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ ENV PACKAGES flex bison \
     libxen-dev \
     libzstd-dev \
     make \
+    ninja-build \
     python3-numpy \
     python3-opencv \
     python3-pil \
diff --git a/tests/vm/centos b/tests/vm/centos
index 0ad4ecf419..efe3dbbb36 100755
--- a/tests/vm/centos
+++ b/tests/vm/centos
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class CentosVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         self.wait_ssh()
         self.ssh_root_check("touch /etc/cloud/cloud-init.disabled")
         self.ssh_root_check("yum update -y")
-        self.ssh_root_check("yum install -y docker make git python3")
+        self.ssh_root_check("yum install -y docker make ninja-build git python3")
         self.ssh_root_check("systemctl enable docker")
         self.ssh_root("poweroff")
         self.wait()
diff --git a/tests/vm/centos.aarch64 b/tests/vm/centos.aarch64
index d5232ecdb8..e687b93e52 100755
--- a/tests/vm/centos.aarch64
+++ b/tests/vm/centos.aarch64
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ import aarch64vm
 DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     'cpu'          : "max",
     'machine'      : "virt,gic-version=max",
-    'install_cmds' : "yum install -y make git python3 gcc gcc-c++ flex bison, "\
+    'install_cmds' : "yum install -y make ninja-build git python3 gcc gcc-c++ flex bison, "\
         "yum install -y glib2-devel pixman-devel zlib-devel, "\
         "yum install -y perl-Test-Harness, "\
         "alternatives --set python /usr/bin/python3, "\
diff --git a/tests/vm/fedora b/tests/vm/fedora
index b2b478fdbc..b977efe4a2 100755
--- a/tests/vm/fedora
+++ b/tests/vm/fedora
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class FedoraVM(basevm.BaseVM):
     pkgs = [
         # tools
         'git-core',
-        'gcc', 'binutils', 'make',
+        'gcc', 'binutils', 'make', 'ninja-build',
 
         # perl
         'perl-Test-Harness',
diff --git a/tests/vm/freebsd b/tests/vm/freebsd
index 5f866e09c4..04ee793381 100755
--- a/tests/vm/freebsd
+++ b/tests/vm/freebsd
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ class FreeBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         "bzip2",
         "python37",
         "py37-setuptools",
+        "ninja",
 
         # gnu tools
         "bash",
diff --git a/tests/vm/netbsd b/tests/vm/netbsd
index ffb65a89be..447de9747d 100755
--- a/tests/vm/netbsd
+++ b/tests/vm/netbsd
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ class NetBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         "xz",
         "python37",
         "py37-setuptools",
+        "ninja-build",
 
         # gnu tools
         "bash",
diff --git a/tests/vm/openbsd b/tests/vm/openbsd
index 8356646f21..ad882a76a2 100755
--- a/tests/vm/openbsd
+++ b/tests/vm/openbsd
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ class OpenBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         "pkgconf",
         "bzip2", "xz",
         "py3-setuptools",
+        "ninja",
 
         # gnu tools
         "bash",
diff --git a/tests/vm/ubuntu.aarch64 b/tests/vm/ubuntu.aarch64
index 21d454c27f..b291945a7e 100755
--- a/tests/vm/ubuntu.aarch64
+++ b/tests/vm/ubuntu.aarch64
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     'machine'      : "virt,gic-version=3",
     'install_cmds' : "apt-get update,"\
                      "apt-get build-dep -y --arch-only qemu,"\
-                     "apt-get install -y libfdt-dev pkg-config language-pack-en",
+                     "apt-get install -y libfdt-dev pkg-config language-pack-en ninja-build",
     # We increase beyond the default time since during boot
     # it can take some time (many seconds) to log into the VM
     # especially using softmmu.
diff --git a/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386 b/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
index 5ce72610a6..47681b6f87 100755
--- a/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
+++ b/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import ubuntuvm
 DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     'install_cmds' : "apt-get update,"\
                      "apt-get build-dep -y qemu,"\
-                     "apt-get install -y libfdt-dev language-pack-en",
+                     "apt-get install -y libfdt-dev language-pack-en ninja-build",
 }
 
 class UbuntuX86VM(ubuntuvm.UbuntuVM):