diff --git a/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp b/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp
index 2a6490cff..cfc65d53e 100644
--- a/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-backend-ops.cpp
@@ -2062,10 +2062,13 @@ static bool test_backend(ggml_backend_t backend, test_mode mode, const char * op
     //test_cases.emplace_back(new test_moe(8, 2, 8, 4096, 14336));
 #endif
 
+    // these tests are disabled to save execution time, but they can be handy for debugging
+#if 0
     test_cases.emplace_back(new test_llama(1));
     test_cases.emplace_back(new test_llama(2));
     test_cases.emplace_back(new test_falcon(1));
     test_cases.emplace_back(new test_falcon(2));
+#endif
 
     // run tests
     if (mode == MODE_TEST) {