diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0e16ea6c1..2fecb8718 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,3 +14,7 @@ ohttp-relay = { path = "ohttp-relay" }
 payjoin = { path = "payjoin" }
 payjoin-directory = { path = "payjoin-directory" }
 payjoin-test-utils = { path = "payjoin-test-utils" }
+
+[profile.crane]
+inherits = "test"
+debug = false
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 6c7cab5eb..eb69c2573 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@
           inherit src;
           strictDeps = true;
 
+          # avoid release builds throughout for faster feedback from checks
+          # note that this also affects the built packages
+          CARGO_PROFILE = "crane";
+
           # provide fallback name & version for workspace related derivations
           # this is mainly to silence warnings from crane about providing a stub
           # value overridden in per-crate packages with info from Cargo.toml
@@ -217,10 +221,11 @@
                   partitions = 1;
                   partitionType = "count";
                   cargoExtraArgs = "--locked --all-features";
+                  NEXTEST_SHOW_PROGRESS = "none";
                   BITCOIND_EXE = nixpkgs.lib.getExe' pkgs.bitcoind "bitcoind";
                   nativeBuildInputs = [ nginxWithStream ];
+                  doInstallCargoArtifacts = false;
                 }
-
               )
             ))
           ) craneLibVersions