diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 436efdab22..0a9307d4c6 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -173,6 +173,10 @@ allprojects {
         if (System.getProperty("test.maxParallelForks") != null) {
             maxParallelForks = Integer.valueOf(System.getProperty("test.maxParallelForks"))
         }
+
+        if (project.path.startsWith(':experimental') && System.getProperty("experimental.test.enable") == null) {
+            enabled = false
+        }
     }
 
     group 'net.corda'
diff --git a/experimental/README.md b/experimental/README.md
index f58401d525..99a8957223 100644
--- a/experimental/README.md
+++ b/experimental/README.md
@@ -7,3 +7,6 @@ either be moved into the main modules and go through code review, or be deleted.
 Code placed here can be committed to directly onto master at any time as long as it doesn't break the build
 (no compile failures or unit test failures). Any commits here that break the build will simply be rolled back.
 
+To help reduce the build times, unit tests for experimental projects have been disabled and will NOT run alongside
+the whole project tests run via Gradle. Add parameter ```experimental.test.enable``` (example command is ```gradlew test -Dexperimental.test.enable```
+to enable those tests.
\ No newline at end of file