diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/genoutput.sh b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/genoutput.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 66f23dbda0b..00000000000
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/genoutput.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,55 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-
-# This file contains all of the cmdlines used to generate output
-# for the test step in the CI pipeline.  It can also be used to
-# regenerate reference output
-
-set -x
-set -e
-
-# input/output directories:
-base=src/freedreno
-traces=$base/.gitlab-ci/traces
-reference=$base/.gitlab-ci/reference
-output=$base/.gitlab-ci/out
-
-# use the --update arg to update reference output:
-if [ "$1" = "--update" ]; then
-	output=$reference
-fi
-
-mkdir -p $output
-
-# binary locations:
-cffdump=./install/bin/cffdump
-crashdec=./install/bin/crashdec
-asm=./install/bin/afuc-asm
-disasm=./install/bin/afuc-disasm
-
-# helper to filter out paths that can change depending on
-# who is building and assert messages that can change
-# depending on unrelated code changes:
-basepath=`dirname $0`
-basepath=`dirname $basepath`
-basepath=`pwd $basepath`
-filter() {
-	out=$1
-	grep -vF "$basepath" | sed "s/.*: Assertion /Assertion /" > $out
-}
-
-#
-# The Tests:
-#
-
-# dump only a single frame, and single tile pass, to keep the
-# reference output size managable
-$cffdump --frame 0 --once $traces/fd-clouds.rd.gz | filter $output/fd-clouds.log
-$cffdump --frame 0 --once $traces/es2gears-a320.rd.gz | filter $output/es2gears-a320.log
-$cffdump --frame 1 --once $traces/glxgears-a420.rd.gz | filter $output/glxgears-a420.log
-$cffdump --once $traces/dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d.rd.gz | filter $output/dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d.log
-$cffdump --frame 0 --once $traces/dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list.rd.gz | filter $output/dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list.log
-
-# test a lua script to ensure we don't break scripting API:
-$cffdump --script $base/decode/scripts/parse-submits.lua $traces/shadow.rd.gz | filter $output/shadow.log
-
-$crashdec -sf $traces/crash.devcore | filter $output/crash.log
diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d.log b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d.log
index e8a201d2e7c..e1163bc36d3 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d.log
+++ b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d.log
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-Reading src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/traces/dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d.rd.gz...
 gpu_id: 201
 cmd: deqp-gles2/185: fence=1250
 ############################################################
diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list.log b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list.log
index b9a579d0894..647c45edc3a 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list.log
+++ b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list.log
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-Reading src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/traces/dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list.rd.gz...
 gpu_id: 640
 cmd: deqp-vk/74711: fence=247337
 ############################################################
diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/es2gears-a320.log b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/es2gears-a320.log
index f40871704ff..a8f46dc8b83 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/es2gears-a320.log
+++ b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/es2gears-a320.log
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-Reading src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/traces/es2gears-a320.rd.gz...
 gpu_id: 330
 cmd: es2gears/628: fence=276
 ############################################################
diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/fd-clouds.log b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/fd-clouds.log
index 296f62ba64d..1ac9b28ce33 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/fd-clouds.log
+++ b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/fd-clouds.log
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-Reading src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/traces/fd-clouds.rd.gz...
 gpu_id: 630
 cmd: null_platform_t/2995: fence=1855
 ############################################################
diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/glxgears-a420.log b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/glxgears-a420.log
index 91664ba7573..10c32649b65 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/glxgears-a420.log
+++ b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/glxgears-a420.log
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-Reading src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/traces/glxgears-a420.rd.gz...
 gpu_id: 420
 cmd: X/23360: fence=1029603
 cmd: glxgears/23375: fence=1029604
diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/shadow.log b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/shadow.log
index 47c7f2e2e5e..2b619e5bfd9 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/shadow.log
+++ b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/reference/shadow.log
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 Analyzing Data...
-Reading src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/traces/shadow.rd.gz...
-Parsing src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/traces/shadow.rd.gz
 
 Blit:
 -----
diff --git a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/run-fdtools.sh b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/run-fdtools.sh
index 261969a7510..15c8d7d9730 100755
--- a/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/run-fdtools.sh
+++ b/src/freedreno/.gitlab-ci/run-fdtools.sh
@@ -3,12 +3,6 @@
 set -e
 set -x
 
-p=`dirname $0`
-
-# Run cffdump/crashdec tests:
-$p/genoutput.sh
-diff -r $p/reference $p/out
-
 # Also, while we are still using headergen2 for generating kernel
 # headers, make sure that doesn't break:
 headergen="_build/src/freedreno/rnn/headergen2"
diff --git a/src/freedreno/decode/cffdec.h b/src/freedreno/decode/cffdec.h
index 1d0a05d8bdb..a21cf9f0698 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/decode/cffdec.h
+++ b/src/freedreno/decode/cffdec.h
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ struct cffdec_options {
     */
    int once;
 
+   /* In unit_test mode, suppress pathnames in output so that we can have references
+    * independent of the build dir.
+    */
+   int unit_test;
+
    /* for crashdec, where we know CP_IBx_REM_SIZE, we can use this
     * to highlight the cmdstream not parsed yet, to make it easier
     * to see how far along the CP is.
diff --git a/src/freedreno/decode/cffdump.c b/src/freedreno/decode/cffdump.c
index 098ba4b7905..0ed1989798a 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/decode/cffdump.c
+++ b/src/freedreno/decode/cffdump.c
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ print_usage(const char *name)
            "\t                   which can be useful when looking at state that does\n"
            "\t                   not change per tile\n"
            "\t--not-once       - decode cmdstream for each IB (default)\n"
+           "\t--unit-test      - make reproducible output for unit testing\n"
            "\t-h, --help       - show this message\n"
            , name);
    /* clang-format on */
@@ -128,6 +129,7 @@ static const struct option opts[] = {
       { "query-compare",   no_argument, &options.query_compare, 1 },
       { "once",            no_argument, &options.once,          1 },
       { "not-once",        no_argument, &options.once,          0 },
+      { "unit-test",       no_argument, &options.unit_test,     1 },
 
       /* Long opts with short alias: */
       { "verbose",   no_argument,       0, 'v' },
@@ -263,7 +265,8 @@ handle_file(const char *filename, int start, int end, int draw)
 
    cffdec_init(&options);
 
-   printf("Reading %s...\n", filename);
+   if (!options.unit_test)
+      printf("Reading %s...\n", filename);
 
    script_start_cmdstream(filename);
 
diff --git a/src/freedreno/decode/meson.build b/src/freedreno/decode/meson.build
index b1feea2adab..de38ed5c1da 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/decode/meson.build
+++ b/src/freedreno/decode/meson.build
@@ -153,3 +153,49 @@ if dep_libarchive.found()
     install: false,
   )
 endif
+
+if with_tests
+  diff = find_program('diff')
+
+  crashdec_output = custom_target('crashdec.txt',
+    output: 'crashdec.txt',
+    command: [crashdec, '-sf', files('../.gitlab-ci/traces/crash.devcore')],
+    capture: true
+  )
+  test('crashdec',
+    diff,
+    args: ['-u', files('../.gitlab-ci/reference/crash.log'), crashdec_output],
+    suite: 'freedreno',
+    workdir: meson.source_root()
+  )
+
+  # dump only a single frame, and single tile pass, to keep the
+  # reference output size managable
+  cffdump_tests = [
+    ['fd-clouds', ['--frame', '0', '--once']],
+    ['es2gears-a320', ['--frame', '0', '--once']],
+    ['glxgears-a420', ['--frame', '1', '--once']],
+    ['dEQP-GLES2.functional.texture.specification.basic_teximage2d.rgba16f_2d', ['--once']],
+    ['dEQP-VK.draw.indirect_draw.indexed.indirect_draw_count.triangle_list', ['--frame', '0', '--once']],
+    # Test a lua script to ensure we don't break scripting API
+    ['shadow', ['--script', files(join_paths(meson.current_source_dir(), 'scripts', 'parse-submits.lua'))]],
+  ]
+  foreach cffdump_test: cffdump_tests
+    name = cffdump_test[0]
+    args = cffdump_test[1]
+
+    log = custom_target(name + '.log',
+      output: name + '.log',
+      command: [cffdump, '--unit-test', args, files('../.gitlab-ci/traces/' + name + '.rd.gz')],
+      capture: true,
+    )
+    test('cffdump-' + name,
+      diff,
+      args: ['-u', files('../.gitlab-ci/reference/' + name + '.log'), log],
+      suite: 'freedreno',
+      workdir: meson.source_root()
+    )
+
+  endforeach
+
+endif
diff --git a/src/freedreno/decode/scripts/parse-submits.lua b/src/freedreno/decode/scripts/parse-submits.lua
index 96fa66957dd..cd20b680d3a 100644
--- a/src/freedreno/decode/scripts/parse-submits.lua
+++ b/src/freedreno/decode/scripts/parse-submits.lua
@@ -64,10 +64,6 @@ local depthwrite
 local stenciltest
 local stencilwrite
 
-function start_cmdstream(name)
-	printf("Parsing %s\n", name)
-end
-
 function reset()
 	dbg("reset\n")
 	mrts = {}