diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2f5f16847a..62188f5e8f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1336,6 +1336,7 @@ THIRD_PARTY_SOURCES += sha1dc/%
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-ctype
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-mem-pool
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-prio-queue
+UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-reftable-basics
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-strbuf
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-strcmp-offset
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-strvec
@@ -2672,7 +2673,6 @@ REFTABLE_OBJS += reftable/stack.o
 REFTABLE_OBJS += reftable/tree.o
 REFTABLE_OBJS += reftable/writer.o
 
-REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/basics_test.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/block_test.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/dump.o
 REFTABLE_TEST_OBJS += reftable/merged_test.o
diff --git a/reftable/basics_test.c b/reftable/basics_test.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 997c4d9e01..0000000000
--- a/reftable/basics_test.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,105 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2020 Google LLC
-
-Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
-license that can be found in the LICENSE file or at
-https://developers.google.com/open-source/licenses/bsd
-*/
-
-#include "system.h"
-
-#include "basics.h"
-#include "test_framework.h"
-#include "reftable-tests.h"
-
-struct integer_needle_lesseq_args {
-	int needle;
-	int *haystack;
-};
-
-static int integer_needle_lesseq(size_t i, void *_args)
-{
-	struct integer_needle_lesseq_args *args = _args;
-	return args->needle <= args->haystack[i];
-}
-
-static void test_binsearch(void)
-{
-	int haystack[] = { 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 };
-	struct {
-		int needle;
-		size_t expected_idx;
-	} testcases[] = {
-		{-9000, 0},
-		{-1, 0},
-		{0, 0},
-		{2, 0},
-		{3, 1},
-		{4, 1},
-		{7, 3},
-		{9, 4},
-		{10, 4},
-		{11, 5},
-		{9000, 5},
-	};
-	size_t i = 0;
-
-	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(testcases); i++) {
-		struct integer_needle_lesseq_args args = {
-			.haystack = haystack,
-			.needle = testcases[i].needle,
-		};
-		size_t idx;
-
-		idx = binsearch(ARRAY_SIZE(haystack), &integer_needle_lesseq, &args);
-		EXPECT(idx == testcases[i].expected_idx);
-	}
-}
-
-static void test_names_length(void)
-{
-	char *a[] = { "a", "b", NULL };
-	EXPECT(names_length(a) == 2);
-}
-
-static void test_parse_names_normal(void)
-{
-	char in[] = "a\nb\n";
-	char **out = NULL;
-	parse_names(in, strlen(in), &out);
-	EXPECT(!strcmp(out[0], "a"));
-	EXPECT(!strcmp(out[1], "b"));
-	EXPECT(!out[2]);
-	free_names(out);
-}
-
-static void test_parse_names_drop_empty(void)
-{
-	char in[] = "a\n\n";
-	char **out = NULL;
-	parse_names(in, strlen(in), &out);
-	EXPECT(!strcmp(out[0], "a"));
-	EXPECT(!out[1]);
-	free_names(out);
-}
-
-static void test_common_prefix(void)
-{
-	struct strbuf s1 = STRBUF_INIT;
-	struct strbuf s2 = STRBUF_INIT;
-	strbuf_addstr(&s1, "abcdef");
-	strbuf_addstr(&s2, "abc");
-	EXPECT(common_prefix_size(&s1, &s2) == 3);
-	strbuf_release(&s1);
-	strbuf_release(&s2);
-}
-
-int basics_test_main(int argc, const char *argv[])
-{
-	RUN_TEST(test_common_prefix);
-	RUN_TEST(test_parse_names_normal);
-	RUN_TEST(test_parse_names_drop_empty);
-	RUN_TEST(test_binsearch);
-	RUN_TEST(test_names_length);
-	return 0;
-}
diff --git a/reftable/record_test.c b/reftable/record_test.c
index c158ee79ff..58290bdba3 100644
--- a/reftable/record_test.c
+++ b/reftable/record_test.c
@@ -64,31 +64,6 @@ static void test_varint_roundtrip(void)
 	}
 }
 
-static void test_common_prefix(void)
-{
-	struct {
-		const char *a, *b;
-		int want;
-	} cases[] = {
-		{ "abc", "ab", 2 },
-		{ "", "abc", 0 },
-		{ "abc", "abd", 2 },
-		{ "abc", "pqr", 0 },
-	};
-
-	int i = 0;
-	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(cases); i++) {
-		struct strbuf a = STRBUF_INIT;
-		struct strbuf b = STRBUF_INIT;
-		strbuf_addstr(&a, cases[i].a);
-		strbuf_addstr(&b, cases[i].b);
-		EXPECT(common_prefix_size(&a, &b) == cases[i].want);
-
-		strbuf_release(&a);
-		strbuf_release(&b);
-	}
-}
-
 static void set_hash(uint8_t *h, int j)
 {
 	int i = 0;
@@ -258,16 +233,6 @@ static void test_reftable_log_record_roundtrip(void)
 	strbuf_release(&scratch);
 }
 
-static void test_u24_roundtrip(void)
-{
-	uint32_t in = 0x112233;
-	uint8_t dest[3];
-	uint32_t out;
-	put_be24(dest, in);
-	out = get_be24(dest);
-	EXPECT(in == out);
-}
-
 static void test_key_roundtrip(void)
 {
 	uint8_t buffer[1024] = { 0 };
@@ -411,9 +376,7 @@ int record_test_main(int argc, const char *argv[])
 	RUN_TEST(test_reftable_ref_record_roundtrip);
 	RUN_TEST(test_varint_roundtrip);
 	RUN_TEST(test_key_roundtrip);
-	RUN_TEST(test_common_prefix);
 	RUN_TEST(test_reftable_obj_record_roundtrip);
 	RUN_TEST(test_reftable_index_record_roundtrip);
-	RUN_TEST(test_u24_roundtrip);
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/reftable/stack_test.c b/reftable/stack_test.c
index 0f7b1453e6..6b8136e8e2 100644
--- a/reftable/stack_test.c
+++ b/reftable/stack_test.c
@@ -102,29 +102,6 @@ static void test_read_file(void)
 	(void) remove(fn);
 }
 
-static void test_parse_names(void)
-{
-	char buf[] = "line\n";
-	char **names = NULL;
-	parse_names(buf, strlen(buf), &names);
-
-	EXPECT(NULL != names[0]);
-	EXPECT(0 == strcmp(names[0], "line"));
-	EXPECT(NULL == names[1]);
-	free_names(names);
-}
-
-static void test_names_equal(void)
-{
-	char *a[] = { "a", "b", "c", NULL };
-	char *b[] = { "a", "b", "d", NULL };
-	char *c[] = { "a", "b", NULL };
-
-	EXPECT(names_equal(a, a));
-	EXPECT(!names_equal(a, b));
-	EXPECT(!names_equal(a, c));
-}
-
 static int write_test_ref(struct reftable_writer *wr, void *arg)
 {
 	struct reftable_ref_record *ref = arg;
@@ -1034,8 +1011,6 @@ static void test_reftable_stack_compaction_concurrent_clean(void)
 int stack_test_main(int argc, const char *argv[])
 {
 	RUN_TEST(test_empty_add);
-	RUN_TEST(test_names_equal);
-	RUN_TEST(test_parse_names);
 	RUN_TEST(test_read_file);
 	RUN_TEST(test_reflog_expire);
 	RUN_TEST(test_reftable_stack_add);
diff --git a/t/helper/test-reftable.c b/t/helper/test-reftable.c
index bae731669c..9160bc5da6 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-reftable.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-reftable.c
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 int cmd__reftable(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	/* test from simple to complex. */
-	basics_test_main(argc, argv);
 	record_test_main(argc, argv);
 	block_test_main(argc, argv);
 	tree_test_main(argc, argv);
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-basics.c b/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-basics.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..529049af12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-basics.c
@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2020 Google LLC
+
+Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+license that can be found in the LICENSE file or at
+https://developers.google.com/open-source/licenses/bsd
+*/
+
+#include "test-lib.h"
+#include "reftable/basics.h"
+
+struct integer_needle_lesseq_args {
+	int needle;
+	int *haystack;
+};
+
+static int integer_needle_lesseq(size_t i, void *_args)
+{
+	struct integer_needle_lesseq_args *args = _args;
+	return args->needle <= args->haystack[i];
+}
+
+static void test_binsearch(void)
+{
+	int haystack[] = { 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 };
+	struct {
+		int needle;
+		size_t expected_idx;
+	} testcases[] = {
+		{-9000, 0},
+		{-1, 0},
+		{0, 0},
+		{2, 0},
+		{3, 1},
+		{4, 1},
+		{7, 3},
+		{9, 4},
+		{10, 4},
+		{11, 5},
+		{9000, 5},
+	};
+
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(testcases); i++) {
+		struct integer_needle_lesseq_args args = {
+			.haystack = haystack,
+			.needle = testcases[i].needle,
+		};
+		size_t idx;
+
+		idx = binsearch(ARRAY_SIZE(haystack), &integer_needle_lesseq, &args);
+		check_int(idx, ==, testcases[i].expected_idx);
+	}
+}
+
+static void test_names_length(void)
+{
+	char *a[] = { "a", "b", NULL };
+	check_int(names_length(a), ==, 2);
+}
+
+static void test_names_equal(void)
+{
+	char *a[] = { "a", "b", "c", NULL };
+	char *b[] = { "a", "b", "d", NULL };
+	char *c[] = { "a", "b", NULL };
+
+	check(names_equal(a, a));
+	check(!names_equal(a, b));
+	check(!names_equal(a, c));
+}
+
+static void test_parse_names_normal(void)
+{
+	char in1[] = "line\n";
+	char in2[] = "a\nb\nc";
+	char **out = NULL;
+	parse_names(in1, strlen(in1), &out);
+	check_str(out[0], "line");
+	check(!out[1]);
+	free_names(out);
+
+	parse_names(in2, strlen(in2), &out);
+	check_str(out[0], "a");
+	check_str(out[1], "b");
+	check_str(out[2], "c");
+	check(!out[3]);
+	free_names(out);
+}
+
+static void test_parse_names_drop_empty(void)
+{
+	char in[] = "a\n\nb\n";
+	char **out = NULL;
+	parse_names(in, strlen(in), &out);
+	check_str(out[0], "a");
+	/* simply '\n' should be dropped as empty string */
+	check_str(out[1], "b");
+	check(!out[2]);
+	free_names(out);
+}
+
+static void test_common_prefix(void)
+{
+	struct strbuf a = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct strbuf b = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct {
+		const char *a, *b;
+		int want;
+	} cases[] = {
+		{"abcdef", "abc", 3},
+		{ "abc", "ab", 2 },
+		{ "", "abc", 0 },
+		{ "abc", "abd", 2 },
+		{ "abc", "pqr", 0 },
+	};
+
+	for (size_t i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(cases); i++) {
+		strbuf_addstr(&a, cases[i].a);
+		strbuf_addstr(&b, cases[i].b);
+		check_int(common_prefix_size(&a, &b), ==, cases[i].want);
+		strbuf_reset(&a);
+		strbuf_reset(&b);
+	}
+	strbuf_release(&a);
+	strbuf_release(&b);
+}
+
+static void test_u24_roundtrip(void)
+{
+	uint32_t in = 0x112233;
+	uint8_t dest[3];
+	uint32_t out;
+	put_be24(dest, in);
+	out = get_be24(dest);
+	check_int(in, ==, out);
+}
+
+static void test_u16_roundtrip(void)
+{
+	uint32_t in = 0xfef1;
+	uint8_t dest[3];
+	uint32_t out;
+	put_be16(dest, in);
+	out = get_be16(dest);
+	check_int(in, ==, out);
+}
+
+int cmd_main(int argc, const char *argv[])
+{
+	TEST(test_common_prefix(), "common_prefix_size works");
+	TEST(test_parse_names_normal(), "parse_names works for basic input");
+	TEST(test_parse_names_drop_empty(), "parse_names drops empty string");
+	TEST(test_binsearch(), "binary search with binsearch works");
+	TEST(test_names_length(), "names_length retuns size of a NULL-terminated string array");
+	TEST(test_names_equal(), "names_equal compares NULL-terminated string arrays");
+	TEST(test_u24_roundtrip(), "put_be24 and get_be24 work");
+	TEST(test_u16_roundtrip(), "put_be16 and get_be16 work");
+
+	return test_done();
+}