diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 919a8b6..695c618 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -48,10 +48,10 @@ dyncode: examples/em_test.pickle
 	$(python) scripts/refreshdyn.py examples/em_test.pickle $(dyncode_filename) && echo -e "\n\nCode generated in $(dyncode_filename)"
 
 # run tests
-checks:
+checks: runtest
 	./runtest -v
 
-unittest: check
+unittest: checks
 
 #Cleaning documentation and dyncode
 clean-local: cleandoc
diff --git a/runtest.sh b/runtest.sh
index cf914fd..55892e9 100755
--- a/runtest.sh
+++ b/runtest.sh
@@ -53,9 +53,14 @@ then
 fi
 
 PYTHON='env python3'
-testdir=$(mktemp -d)
+testdir=$(mktemp -td "lodel2_unittest_instance_XXXXXXXX")
+install_model_dir="[@]INSTALLMODEL_DIR[@]"
+if [ ! -d "$install_model_dir" ]
+then
+	install_model_dir="$(dirname $0)/progs/slim/install_model/"
+fi
 rmdir $testdir
-./progs/create_instance test_instance $testdir "[@]INSTALLMODEL_DIR[@]" ./examples/em_file.pickle $(dirname $0)
+./progs/create_instance test_instance $testdir "$install_model_dir" ./examples/em_test.pickle $(dirname $0)
 cp -R examples $testdir
 cp -R tests $testdir
 cd $testdir