diff --git a/Changes b/Changes
index 658b64ea..6086c6f5 100644
--- a/Changes
+++ b/Changes
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ Revision history for Perl extension Net::SSLeay.
 	- When building Net-SSLeay, search for the openssl binary in the same directory
 	  in which Perl is installed (i.e. $Config{prefix}/bin/). Thanks to Henrik
 	  Grimler for the patch.
+	- Move author-only Kwalitee and Pod tests out of the main test suite and into
+	  the xt/ directory; these tests can now be run with "make xtest". This
+	  eliminates the main test suite's soft dependency on the non-core Test::Pod,
+	  Test::Pod::Coverage and Test::Kwalitee modules.
 
 1.93_01 2022-03-20
 	- LibreSSL 3.5.0 has removed access to internal data
diff --git a/MANIFEST b/MANIFEST
index 0fe4f9d4..41d0d3d1 100644
--- a/MANIFEST
+++ b/MANIFEST
@@ -186,8 +186,6 @@ t/external/ocsp.t
 t/handle/external/10_destroy.t
 t/handle/external/50_external.t
 t/handle/local/05_use.t
-t/local/01_pod.t
-t/local/02_pod_coverage.t
 t/local/03_use.t
 t/local/04_basic.t
 t/local/05_passwd_cb.t
@@ -229,5 +227,7 @@ t/local/64_ticket_sharing.t
 t/local/65_security_level.t
 t/local/65_ticket_sharing_2.t
 t/local/66_curves.t
-t/local/kwalitee.t
 typemap
+xt/01_kwalitee.t
+xt/02_pod.t
+xt/02_pod_coverage.t
diff --git a/Makefile.PL b/Makefile.PL
index 8f428856..efae3c3e 100644
--- a/Makefile.PL
+++ b/Makefile.PL
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ my %eumm_args = (
     prereqs => {
       develop => {
         requires => {
+          'Test::Pod' => '1.41',
           'Test::Pod::Coverage' => '1.00',
           'Test::Kwalitee' => '1.00',
         },
@@ -144,6 +145,9 @@ sub MY::postamble {
 <<"MAKE";
 SSLeay$Config{'obj_ext'} : constants.c
 
+xtest :
+	\$(MAKE) test TEST_FILES=xt/*.t
+
 MAKE
 }
 
diff --git a/t/local/01_pod.t b/t/local/01_pod.t
deleted file mode 100644
index 6a036171..00000000
--- a/t/local/01_pod.t
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-# Ensure all pod-formatted documentation is valid
-
-use lib 'inc';
-
-use Test::Net::SSLeay;
-
-# Starting with Net-SSLeay 1.88, the pod syntax uses constructs that are not
-# legal according to older Test::Pod versions (e.g. 1.40, in RHEL 6).
-# Here's a snippet from the Changes file for Test::Pod 1.41:
-#   Test::Pod no longer complains about the construct L<text|url>, as it is no
-#   longer illegal (as of Perl 5.11.3).
-eval "use Test::Pod 1.41";
-if ($@) {
-    plan skip_all => "Test::Pod 1.41 required for testing pod";
-}
-
-all_pod_files_ok(qw(
-    blib/lib/Net/SSLeay.pm
-    blib/lib/Net/SSLeay/Handle.pm
-    helper_script/generate-test-pki
-    inc/Test/Net/SSLeay.pm
-    inc/Test/Net/SSLeay/Socket.pm
-));
diff --git a/t/local/kwalitee.t b/t/local/kwalitee.t
deleted file mode 100644
index 6b078849..00000000
--- a/t/local/kwalitee.t
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-# Ensure module distribution passes Kwalitee checks
-
-use lib 'inc';
-
-use Test::Net::SSLeay;
-
-if (!$ENV{RELEASE_TESTING}) {
-    plan skip_all => 'These tests are for only for release candidate testing. Enable with RELEASE_TESTING=1';
-}
-
-require Test::Kwalitee;
-Test::Kwalitee::kwalitee_ok();
diff --git a/xt/01_kwalitee.t b/xt/01_kwalitee.t
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7e318c71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xt/01_kwalitee.t
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Ensure module distribution passes Kwalitee checks
+
+use lib 'inc';
+
+use Test::Net::SSLeay;
+
+use Test::Kwalitee qw(kwalitee_ok);
+
+kwalitee_ok();
+
+done_testing();
diff --git a/xt/02_pod.t b/xt/02_pod.t
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6e0af3f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xt/02_pod.t
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+# Ensure all pod-formatted documentation is valid
+
+use lib 'inc';
+
+use Test::Net::SSLeay;
+
+use Test::Pod;
+
+all_pod_files_ok(
+    qw(
+        blib/lib/Net/SSLeay.pm
+        blib/lib/Net/SSLeay/Handle.pm
+        helper_script/generate-test-pki
+        inc/Test/Net/SSLeay.pm
+        inc/Test/Net/SSLeay/Socket.pm
+    )
+);
diff --git a/t/local/02_pod_coverage.t b/xt/02_pod_coverage.t
similarity index 51%
rename from t/local/02_pod_coverage.t
rename to xt/02_pod_coverage.t
index 2c02d97a..2848ccd9 100644
--- a/t/local/02_pod_coverage.t
+++ b/xt/02_pod_coverage.t
@@ -5,15 +5,9 @@ use lib 'inc';
 
 use Test::Net::SSLeay;
 
-if (!$ENV{RELEASE_TESTING}) {
-    plan skip_all => 'These tests are for only for release candidate testing. Enable with RELEASE_TESTING=1';
-}
-eval "use Test::Pod::Coverage 1.00";
-if ($@) {
-    plan skip_all => 'Test::Pod::Coverage >= 1.00 required for testing pod coverage';
-} else {
-    plan tests => 4;
-}
+use Test::Pod::Coverage;
+
+plan tests => 4;
 
 pod_coverage_ok('Net::SSLeay');
 pod_coverage_ok('Net::SSLeay::Handle');