diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 38bb70947cd1..76e9ac2925cc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ Community discussions happen primarily on the [dev mailing list][dev-list] or on
 
 Iceberg is built using Gradle 5.2.1.
 
+* To invoke a build and run tests: `./gradlew build`
+* To skip tests: `./gradlew build -x test`
+
 Iceberg table support is organized in library modules:
 
 * `iceberg-common` contains utility classes used in other modules