diff --git a/hack/make-rules/test.sh b/hack/make-rules/test.sh
index aa1617ea2e6..266aaa5db9a 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/test.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/test.sh
@@ -147,6 +147,9 @@ goflags=()
 
 # Filter out arguments that start with "-" and move them to goflags.
 testcases=()
+# if the user passed no target in, we can skip slow normalization.
+normalize="true"
+
 for arg; do
   if [[ "${arg}" == -* ]]; then
     goflags+=("${arg}")
@@ -155,8 +158,15 @@ for arg; do
   fi
 done
 if [[ ${#testcases[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
+  normalize="false"
   kube::util::read-array testcases < <(kube::test::find_dirs)
 fi
+
+if [[ "${normalize}" == "true" ]]; then
+  # This can be slow!
+  kube::log::status "Normalizing Go targets"
+  kube::util::read-array testcases < <(kube::golang::normalize_go_targets "${testcases[@]}")
+fi
 set -- "${testcases[@]+${testcases[@]}}"
 
 if [[ -n "${KUBE_RACE}" ]] ; then
@@ -190,11 +200,6 @@ runTests() {
 
   installTools
 
-  # Try to normalize input names. This is slow!
-  local -a targets
-  kube::log::status "Normalizing Go targets"
-  kube::util::read-array targets < <(kube::golang::normalize_go_targets "$@")
-
   # Enable coverage data collection?
   local cover_msg
   local COMBINED_COVER_PROFILE
@@ -229,7 +234,7 @@ runTests() {
             go test -json \
             "${goflags[@]:+${goflags[@]}}" \
             "${KUBE_TIMEOUT}" \
-            "${targets[@]}" \
+            "$@" \
             "${testargs[@]:+${testargs[@]}}" \
     && rc=$? || rc=$?