diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 3f249ede86def0b33675e2b56e53eea5cd1f856a..3543f8d8914f80975b0034c9d719aec753c28e56 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ variables:
   BUILD_TYPE: Release
   BUILD_TESTS: "true"
   BUILD_CTEST: "true"
-  CTEST_INCLUDE_REGEX: "" # Regex is given via ctest -R [regex]
-  CTEST_EXCLUDE_REGEX: "" # Regex is given via ctest -E [regex]
+  CTEST_ARGS: "" # If not empty supply arguments to select tests
   CPU_TARGET: ivybridge # envinf1 has oldest cpu
   ARTIFACTS_PAGES_URL: https://$CI_PROJECT_ROOT_NAMESPACE.$CI_PAGES_DOMAIN/-/$CI_PROJECT_NAME/-/jobs/$CI_JOB_ID/artifacts
   PIPELINE_NAME: "Default pipeline name"
diff --git a/scripts/ci/extends/template-build-linux.yml b/scripts/ci/extends/template-build-linux.yml
index 02f6bd953ae90a0fbe15cede982f755c25fee094..79c5bcc37f3c8041b1f4788afb7defafdf4d56cb 100644
--- a/scripts/ci/extends/template-build-linux.yml
+++ b/scripts/ci/extends/template-build-linux.yml
@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@
             xvfb_run_cmd="xvfb-run -a"
           fi
 
-          regex_argument=""
-          if [[ ! -z "$CTEST_INCLUDE_REGEX" ]]; then
-            regex_argument="-R ${CTEST_INCLUDE_REGEX}"
-          fi
-          if [[ ! -z "$CTEST_EXCLUDE_REGEX" ]]; then
-            regex_argument="${regex_argument} -E ${CTEST_EXCLUDE_REGEX}"
+          ctest_arguments=""
+          if [[ ! -z "$CTEST_ARGS" ]]; then
+            ctest_arguments="${CTEST_ARGS}"
+            ctest_timeout=90 # Assume large
+          else
+            ctest_arguments="--preset=${CMAKE_PRESET}${preset_postfix}"
           fi
 
           ctest_group="Experimental"
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
             ctest_group="master"
           fi
 
-          ${xvfb_run_cmd} ctest -M Experimental --group ${ctest_group} ${regex_argument} --test-dir ${build_dir_full} -T Start -T Test -T Submit --preset=${CMAKE_PRESET}${preset_postfix} --output-junit Tests/ctest.xml --stop-time `date -d "today + ${ctest_timeout} minutes" +'%H:%M:%S'` ${CTEST_ARGS}
+          ${xvfb_run_cmd} ctest -M Experimental --group ${ctest_group} ${regex_argument} --test-dir ${build_dir_full} -T Start -T Test -T Submit ${ctest_arguments} --output-junit Tests/ctest.xml --stop-time `date -d "today + ${ctest_timeout} minutes" +'%H:%M:%S'` ${CTEST_ARGS}
         fi
 
       else
diff --git a/web/content/docs/devguide/testing/gitlab-ci/index.md b/web/content/docs/devguide/testing/gitlab-ci/index.md
index c5dd671152067997b872d591c97e63a569a35bfc..cba256a863aca47540c62e675e4608c83aae0435 100644
--- a/web/content/docs/devguide/testing/gitlab-ci/index.md
+++ b/web/content/docs/devguide/testing/gitlab-ci/index.md
@@ -65,7 +65,9 @@ These variables in `.gitlab-ci.yml` modify the pipeline:
 
 - `BUILD_TESTS`: Set this to `false` to disable unit tests.
 - `BUILD_CTEST`: Set this to `false` to disable ctest (benchmark) tests.
-- `CTEST_INCLUDE_REGEX`: Set this to a regex to select benchmarks to run, e.g. `nb` would select all notebook-based tests and would disable all other benchmarks.
+- `CTEST_ARGS`: Supply additional arguments to the `ctest`-command to select which benchmarks are run, e.g.:
+  - `-R nb` would select all notebook-based tests and would disable all other benchmarks
+  - `-LE large` would exclude all tests with label `large`
 
 All jobs get included in the `include:`-section in the file `scripts/ci/pipelines/regular.yml`. You can simple comment out files to disable jobs defined in that files. Please note that some jobs depend on other jobs.