diff --git a/scripts/sanitycheck b/scripts/sanitycheck
index 8012c0aa2b36..d55bf021533f 100755
--- a/scripts/sanitycheck
+++ b/scripts/sanitycheck
@@ -1107,7 +1107,7 @@ class MakeGenerator:
 {goal}:
 """
 
-    MAKE_RULE_TMPL = """\t@echo sanity_test_{phase} {goal} >&2
+    MAKE_RULE_TMPL_CMAKE = """\t@echo sanity_test_{phase} {goal} >&2
 \tcmake  \\
 \t\t-G"{generator}"\\
 \t\t-H{directory}\\
@@ -1117,7 +1117,8 @@ class MakeGenerator:
 \t\t-DEXTRA_LDFLAGS="{ldflags}"\\
 \t\t{args}\\
 \t\t>{logfile} 2>&1
-\t{generator_cmd} -C {outdir}\\
+"""
+    MAKE_RULE_TMPL_BLD = """\t{generator_cmd} -C {outdir}\\
 \t\t{verb} {make_args}\\
 \t\t>>{logfile} 2>&1
 """
@@ -1186,21 +1187,31 @@ class MakeGenerator:
                 make_args=make_args
             )
         else:
-            return MakeGenerator.MAKE_RULE_TMPL.format(
+            cmake_rule = MakeGenerator.MAKE_RULE_TMPL_CMAKE.format(
                 generator=generator,
-                generator_cmd=generator_cmd,
                 phase=phase,
                 goal=name,
                 outdir=outdir,
                 cflags=cflags,
                 ldflags=ldflags,
                 directory=workdir,
-                verb=verb,
                 args=args,
                 logfile=logfile,
-                make_args=make_args
             )
 
+            if options.cmake_only:
+                build_rule = ""
+            else:
+                build_rule = MakeGenerator.MAKE_RULE_TMPL_BLD.format(
+                    generator_cmd=generator_cmd,
+                    outdir=outdir,
+                    verb=verb,
+                    make_args=make_args,
+                    logfile=logfile,
+                )
+
+            return cmake_rule + build_rule
+
     def _get_rule_footer(self, name):
         return MakeGenerator.GOAL_FOOTER_TMPL.format(goal=name)
 
@@ -1322,7 +1333,7 @@ class MakeGenerator:
         args.extend(extra_args)
 
         do_build_only = ti.build_only or options.build_only
-        do_run = not do_build_only
+        do_run = not do_build_only and not options.cmake_only
         skip_slow = ti.test.slow and not options.enable_slow
 
         # FIXME: Need refactoring and cleanup
@@ -1407,7 +1418,7 @@ class MakeGenerator:
                     goal.make_state = state
 
                     if state == "finished":
-                        if goal.handler:
+                        if goal.handler and not options.cmake_only:
                             if hasattr(goal.handler, "handle"):
                                 goal.handler.handle()
                                 goal.handler_log = goal.handler.log
@@ -1843,7 +1854,7 @@ class TestInstance:
         self.outdir = os.path.join(base_outdir, platform.name, test.name)
 
         self.build_only = options.build_only or test.build_only \
-                or self.check_dependency()
+                or self.check_dependency() or options.cmake_only
         self.results = {}
 
     def __lt__(self, other):
@@ -2408,7 +2419,7 @@ class TestSuite:
             mg.add_test_instance(i, options.extra_args)
         self.goals = mg.execute(cb, cb_context)
 
-        if not options.disable_size_report:
+        if not options.disable_size_report and not options.cmake_only:
             # Parallelize size calculation
             executor = concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(JOBS)
             futures = [executor.submit(calc_one_elf_size, name, goal)
@@ -2418,6 +2429,7 @@ class TestSuite:
             for goal in self.goals.values():
                 goal.metrics["ram_size"] = 0
                 goal.metrics["rom_size"] = 0
+                goal.metrics["handler_time"] = 0
                 goal.metrics["unrecognized"] = []
 
         return self.goals
@@ -2882,6 +2894,11 @@ Artificially long but functional example:
         "--test-only", action="store_true",
         help="""Only run device tests with current artifacts, do not build
              the code""")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--cmake-only", action="store_true",
+        help="Test on device directly. Specify the serial device to "
+             "use with the --device-serial option.")
+
     parser.add_argument(
         "-j", "--jobs", type=int,
         help="Number of jobs for building, defaults to number of CPU threads "