diff --git a/coverage.sh b/coverage.sh
index 2a0f6f7..cf650c1 100755
--- a/coverage.sh
+++ b/coverage.sh
@@ -51,21 +51,6 @@ if [ "$HAVE_QEMU" = "yes" ]; then
 	fi
 fi
 
-# check if all required debootstrap tarballs exist
-notfound=0
-for dist in oldstable stable testing unstable; do
-	for variant in minbase buildd -; do
-		if [ ! -e "shared/cache/debian-$dist-$variant.tar" ]; then
-			echo "shared/cache/debian-$dist-$variant.tar does not exist" >&2
-			notfound=1
-		fi
-	done
-done
-if [ "$notfound" -ne 0 ]; then
-	echo "not all required debootstrap tarballs are present" >&2
-	exit 1
-fi
-
 # choose the timestamp of the unstable Release file, so that we get
 # reproducible results for the same mirror timestamp
 SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(date --date="$(grep-dctrl -s Date -n '' "$mirrordir/dists/$DEFAULT_DIST/Release")" +%s)
diff --git a/coverage.txt b/coverage.txt
index a064daa..045dbc8 100644
--- a/coverage.txt
+++ b/coverage.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+Test: debootstrap
+Dists: any
+Variants: minbase buildd -
+Needs-Root: true
+
 Test: check-against-debootstrap-dist
 Dists: any
 Variants: minbase buildd -
diff --git a/make_mirror.sh b/make_mirror.sh
index e56397e..b9dee1d 100755
--- a/make_mirror.sh
+++ b/make_mirror.sh
@@ -673,37 +673,6 @@ END
 	trap "cleanup_newcachedir" EXIT INT TERM
 fi
 
-mirror="http://127.0.0.1/debian"
-for dist in oldstable stable testing unstable; do
-	for variant in minbase buildd -; do
-		echo "running debootstrap --variant=$variant $dist \${TEMPDIR} $mirror"
-		cat << END > shared/test.sh
-#!/bin/sh
-set -eu
-export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
-export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
-echo "SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=\$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH"
-tmpdir="\$(mktemp -d)"
-chmod 755 "\$tmpdir"
-case "$dist" in
-	oldstable|stable)
-		debootstrap --no-merged-usr --variant=$variant $dist "\$tmpdir" $mirror
-		;;
-	*)
-		debootstrap --merged-usr --variant=$variant $dist "\$tmpdir" $mirror
-		;;
-esac
-tar --sort=name --mtime=@$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH --clamp-mtime --numeric-owner --one-file-system --xattrs -C "\$tmpdir" -c . > "$newcache/debian-$dist-$variant.tar"
-rm -r "\$tmpdir"
-END
-		if [ "$HAVE_QEMU" = "yes" ]; then
-			cachedir=$newcachedir ./run_qemu.sh
-		else
-			./run_null.sh SUDO
-		fi
-	done
-done
-
 if [ "$HAVE_QEMU" = "yes" ]; then
 	# now replace the minihttpd config with one that serves the new repository
 	guestfish -a "$newcachedir/debian-$DEFAULT_DIST.qcow" -i <<EOF
diff --git a/tests/debootstrap b/tests/debootstrap
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3f0f87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/debootstrap
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
+export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH={{ SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH }}
+
+tmpdir="$(mktemp -d)"
+chmod 755 "$tmpdir"
+case "{{ DIST }}" in
+	oldstable|stable)
+		debootstrap --no-merged-usr --variant={{ VARIANT }} {{ DIST }} "$tmpdir" {{ MIRROR }}
+		;;
+	*)
+		debootstrap --merged-usr --variant={{ VARIANT }} {{ DIST }} "$tmpdir" {{ MIRROR }}
+		;;
+esac
+tar --sort=name --mtime=@$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH --clamp-mtime --numeric-owner --one-file-system --xattrs -C "$tmpdir" -c . > "./cache/debian-{{ DIST }}-{{ VARIANT }}.tar"
+rm -r "$tmpdir"