diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/pom.xml b/asterixdb/asterix-app/pom.xml
index ede8cb1..70312e2 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/pom.xml
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/pom.xml
@@ -190,6 +190,23 @@
       </plugins>
     </pluginManagement>
   </build>
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>skip.asterix-app.tests</id>
+      <build>
+        <plugins>
+          <plugin>
+            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
+            <version>2.16</version>
+            <configuration>
+              <skip>true</skip>
+            </configuration>
+          </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+      </build>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.hyracks</groupId>