diff --git a/test/meson.build b/test/meson.build
index c60e4a4..7da0216 100644
--- a/test/meson.build
+++ b/test/meson.build
@@ -14,20 +14,21 @@
 # You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 # along with numsa.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-# Create mstore as subproject for testing
-mstore_prj = subproject(
+# Find the molecular structure store, preferring an external installation
+# (e.g. via pkg-config) and falling back to building it as a subproject
+mstore_dep = dependency(
   'mstore',
   version: '>=0.1',
+  fallback: ['mstore', 'mstore_dep'],
   required: not meson.is_subproject(),
   default_options: [
     'default_library=static',
   ],
 )
 # If we do not find mstore and are a subproject, we just skip testing
-if not mstore_prj.found()
+if not mstore_dep.found()
    subdir_done()
 endif
-mstore_dep = mstore_prj.get_variable('mstore_dep')
 
 tests = [
   'surface',