diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 26bdd1ca2..052155fc8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ $(BASE_PREFIX)clean:
 	rm -rf $(OUTPUT_DIR)
 
 $(BASE_PREFIX)distclean:
-	rm -rf $(dir $(filter $(KOR_BASE)/build/%,$(OUTPUT_DIR))) $(wildcard $(THIRDPARTY_DIR)/*/build)
+	rm -rf $(dir $(filter $(KOR_BASE)/build/%,$(OUTPUT_DIR))) $(wildcard $(THIRDPARTY_DIR)/*/build $(THIRDPARTY_DIR)/spec/*/build)
 
 info:
 	$(strip $(build_info))
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ cache-key: $(KOR_BASE)/Makefile $(KOR_BASE)/cache-key.base
 
 define BINARY_PATHS
 $(filter-out
-  $(addprefix $(OUTPUT_DIR)/,cmake staging thirdparty),
+  $(addprefix $(OUTPUT_DIR)/,cmake spec staging thirdparty),
     $(wildcard $(OUTPUT_DIR)/*))
 endef
 
diff --git a/Makefile.defs b/Makefile.defs
index 600b0093b..0d6dd0f5d 100644
--- a/Makefile.defs
+++ b/Makefile.defs
@@ -667,6 +667,7 @@ endif
 OUTPUT_DIR ?= $(KOR_BASE)/build/$(MACHINE)
 CMAKE_DIR = $(OUTPUT_DIR)/cmake
 STAGING_DIR = $(OUTPUT_DIR)/staging
+SPEC_ROCKS_DIR = $(OUTPUT_DIR)/spec/rocks
 
 BUILD_ENTRYPOINT = $(CMAKE_DIR)/build.ninja
 
@@ -763,13 +764,7 @@ endif
 
 THIRDPARTY_DIR = $(KOR_BASE)/thirdparty
 
-LUAROCKS_BINARY := $(firstword $(shell command -v luarocks luarocks-5.1))
-ifneq (,$(LUAROCKS_BINARY))
-  # Detect versioned LR 3 binary, see koreader-base/pull/1003
-  ifneq (,$(shell $(LUAROCKS_BINARY) --help | grep -Eo -- --lua-version))
-    LUAROCKS_BINARY += --lua-version=5.1
-  endif
-endif
+LUAROCKS_BINARY := $(abspath $(STAGING_DIR)/bin/luarocks)
 
 # Dynamic libraries must be compiled with "-shared" and "-fPIC".
 # (And we enforce PIC everywhere via CFLAGS/CXXFLAGS).
@@ -927,6 +922,7 @@ set(VECTO_CFLAGS   "$(VECTO_CFLAGS)")
 set(BASE_DIR       $(abspath $(KOR_BASE)))
 set(OUTPUT_DIR     $(abspath $(OUTPUT_DIR)))
 set(STAGING_DIR    $(abspath $(STAGING_DIR)))
+set(SPEC_ROCKS_DIR $(abspath $(SPEC_ROCKS_DIR)))
 set(THIRDPARTY_DIR $(abspath $(THIRDPARTY_DIR)))
 
 set(MAKE $(MAKE))
@@ -1079,7 +1075,8 @@ ifneq (,$(EMULATE_READER))
 
 define busted_fn
 busted() {(
-eval "$$($(LUAROCKS_BINARY) path)";
+export LUA_CPATH='./?.so;$(abspath $(SPEC_ROCKS_DIR)/lib/lua/5.1/?.so)'
+export LUA_PATH='./?.lua;$(abspath $(SPEC_ROCKS_DIR)/share/lua/5.1/?.lua);$(abspath $(SPEC_ROCKS_DIR)/share/lua/5.1/?/init.lua)'
 export TESSDATA_DIR="$$PWD/data";
 ./luajit -e 'require "busted.runner" {standalone = false}' /dev/null
 --exclude-tags=notest
diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index d8a9bf352..2f84e224a 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -305,6 +305,9 @@ declare_project(thirdparty/luajit)
 # luajson
 declare_project(thirdparty/luajson)
 
+# luarocks
+declare_project(thirdparty/luarocks DEPENDS luajit EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+
 # luasec
 declare_project(thirdparty/luasec DEPENDS luajit luasocket openssl)
 
@@ -405,6 +408,29 @@ declare_project(thirdparty/zsync2 DEPENDS curl openssl zlib ${EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL})
 
 # }}}
 
+# TESTSUITE DEPENDENCIES. {{{
+
+if(EMULATE_READER)
+    add_custom_target(spec-rocks)
+    foreach(PRJ
+            busted
+            dkjson
+            lua-term
+            lua_cliargs
+            luafilesystem
+            luassert
+            luasystem
+            mediator_lua
+            penlight
+            say
+        )
+        declare_project(thirdparty/spec/${PRJ} DEPENDS luarocks)
+        add_dependencies(spec-rocks ${PRJ})
+    endforeach()
+endif()
+
+# }}}
+
 # Koreader executables and libs.
 # NOTE: thirdparty dependencies are manually handled later
 # for finer control (see `cmake/koreader/CMakeLists.txt`
diff --git a/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koenv.sh b/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koenv.sh
index 28045b672..09f21814b 100644
--- a/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koenv.sh
+++ b/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koenv.sh
@@ -99,6 +99,12 @@ extract_archive() { (
     # Of course `cmake -E tar` does not support `--strip-components=n`,
     # so we need to use a temporary directory and move things around…
     rm -rf "${sourcedir}" "${sourcedir}.tmp" || return 1
+    case "${archive}" in
+        *.src.rock)
+            # Luarocks source rock, there's no need to extract it.
+            return 0
+            ;;
+    esac
     mkdir "${sourcedir}.tmp" || return 1
     oldpwd="${PWD}"
     cd "${sourcedir}.tmp"
diff --git a/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koreader_external_project.cmake b/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koreader_external_project.cmake
index 3b8bb912e..7ae5e3ed9 100644
--- a/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koreader_external_project.cmake
+++ b/thirdparty/cmake_modules/koreader_external_project.cmake
@@ -320,3 +320,61 @@ function(external_project)
     )
 
 endfunction()
+
+function(luarocks_external_project URL MD5)
+
+    # Arguments.
+    cmake_parse_arguments(
+        PARSE_ARGV 2
+        # Prefix.
+        ""
+        # Options.
+        ""
+        # One value keywords.
+        "ROCKSPEC;TREE"
+        # Multi-value keywords.
+        ""
+    )
+    if(_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "unparsed arguments: ${_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS}")
+    endif()
+    if(NOT DEFINED _TREE)
+        set(_TREE ${STAGING_DIR})
+    endif()
+
+    # Build command.
+    if(DEFINED _ROCKSPEC)
+        # Build in source tree.
+        set(BINARY_DIR ${SOURCE_DIR})
+    endif()
+    list(APPEND BUILD_CMD COMMAND ${STAGING_DIR}/bin/luarocks --tree ${BINARY_DIR}/dist)
+    if(URL MATCHES [=[/([a-z0-9_-]+)-(([0-9]+)(\.[0-9]+)*-[0-9]+)\.src\.rock$]=])
+        # From source rock (e.g https://luarocks.org/manifests/lunarmodules/say-1.4.1-3.src.rock).
+        set(NAME ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
+        set(VERSION ${CMAKE_MATCH_2})
+        list(APPEND BUILD_CMD build ${DOWNLOAD_DIR}/${NAME}-${VERSION}.src.rock)
+    else()
+        if(NOT DEFINED _ROCKSPEC)
+            message(FATAL_ERROR "missing ROCKSPEC for luarocks project: ${PROJECT_NAME}")
+        endif()
+        list(APPEND BUILD_CMD make ${_ROCKSPEC})
+    endif()
+    list(APPEND BUILD_CMD --deps-mode none --force-fast --no-doc --no-manifest)
+
+    # Install command.
+    list(APPEND INSTALL_CMD COMMAND mkdir -p ${SPEC_ROCKS_DIR})
+    list(APPEND INSTALL_CMD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_directory ${BINARY_DIR}/dist ${_TREE})
+
+    # External project.
+    external_project(
+        DOWNLOAD URL ${MD5} ${URL}
+        BUILD_COMMAND ${BUILD_CMD}
+        INSTALL_COMMAND ${INSTALL_CMD}
+    )
+
+endfunction()
+
+function(spec_rock)
+    cmake_parse_arguments(PARSE_ARGV 0 "" "" "" "")
+    luarocks_external_project(${_UNPARSED_ARGUMENTS} TREE ${SPEC_ROCKS_DIR})
+endfunction()
diff --git a/thirdparty/luarocks/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/luarocks/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5a9cdbb9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/luarocks/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Build in source tree.
+set(BINARY_DIR ${SOURCE_DIR})
+
+list(APPEND CFG_CMD COMMAND
+    ./configure
+    --prefix=${STAGING_DIR}
+    --with-lua=${STAGING_DIR}
+)
+
+list(APPEND BUILD_CMD COMMAND make)
+
+list(APPEND INSTALL_CMD COMMAND make install)
+
+# Try to use our compilation flags.
+set(LIBFLAGS ${DYNLIB_LDFLAGS})
+foreach(VAR CC CFLAGS LIBFLAGS)
+    list(APPEND INSTALL_CMD COMMAND ${STAGING_DIR}/bin/luarocks config -- ${VAR} "${${VAR}}")
+endforeach()
+
+external_project(
+    DOWNLOAD URL ab95865ced3c123908bd2f1fe6843606
+    https://github.com/luarocks/luarocks/archive/refs/tags/v3.11.1.tar.gz
+    CONFIGURE_COMMAND ${CFG_CMD}
+    BUILD_COMMAND ${BUILD_CMD}
+    INSTALL_COMMAND ${INSTALL_CMD}
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/busted/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/busted/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7551ebaed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/busted/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/lunarmodules/busted-2.2.0-1.src.rock
+    85aa90d2d9d0213fcd8528bc489a3519
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/dkjson/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/dkjson/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..976f0e640
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/dkjson/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/dhkolf/dkjson-2.8-1.src.rock
+    4d002b7591658983248f8214e9459e1d
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/lua-term/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/lua-term/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d9e2ed7c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/lua-term/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://github.com/hoelzro/lua-term/archive/0.08.tar.gz
+    672b60c1e856129891fe29e23632c032
+    ROCKSPEC lua-term-0.8-1.rockspec
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/lua_cliargs/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/lua_cliargs/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5381993d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/lua_cliargs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/lunarmodules/lua_cliargs-3.0-2.src.rock
+    cca85e869fac1b42252692693aed0333
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/luafilesystem/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/luafilesystem/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..204cc6344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/luafilesystem/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/hisham/luafilesystem-1.8.0-1.src.rock
+    93bd2cbd66d6fc25ff89920ef9293c6e
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/luassert/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/luassert/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..63e9c25e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/luassert/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/lunarmodules/luassert-1.9.0-1.src.rock
+    0df52010a5a5f728da0b9b7615a82da6
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/luasystem/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/luasystem/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4f42b16a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/luasystem/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/lunarmodules/luasystem-0.4.4-1.src.rock
+    608a105f844a052e0055800d80e925f8
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/mediator_lua/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/mediator_lua/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2b70f0a44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/mediator_lua/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://github.com/Olivine-Labs/mediator_lua/archive/v1.1.2-0.tar.gz
+    3ef01fc6ced99f6e4c2a229e91c459bf
+    ROCKSPEC mediator_lua-1.1.2-0.rockspec
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/penlight/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/penlight/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5d156a063
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/penlight/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/tieske/penlight-1.14.0-2.src.rock
+    ab64b4b635e2514db64b4eabfd9d2220
+)
diff --git a/thirdparty/spec/say/CMakeLists.txt b/thirdparty/spec/say/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..aa9d2611b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/spec/say/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+spec_rock(
+    https://luarocks.org/manifests/lunarmodules/say-1.4.1-3.src.rock
+    3b776612edf1e659b2a1e95698597e44
+)