diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-shared.yml b/.github/workflows/test-shared.yml
index 99c0920cdf0bec..176f28bcdbec3b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-shared.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-shared.yml
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ jobs:
             --arg ccache '(import <nixpkgs> {}).sccache' \
             --arg devTools '[]' \
             --arg benchmarkTools '[]' \
-            ${{ endsWith(matrix.system, '-darwin') && '--arg extraConfigFlags ''["--without-amaro" "--without-inspector"]'' \' || '\' }}
+            ${{ endsWith(matrix.system, '-darwin') && '--arg extraConfigFlags ''["--without-amaro" "--without-inspector" "--without-node-options"]'' \' || '\' }}
             --run '
                 make -C "$TAR_DIR" run-ci -j4 V=1 TEST_CI_ARGS="-p actions --measure-flakiness 9 --skip-tests=$CI_SKIP_TESTS"
             '
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index faa3446d80c952..cae2418ca20f4d 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -1,54 +1,64 @@
 {
   pkgs ? import ./tools/nix/pkgs.nix { },
-  loadJSBuiltinsDynamically ? true, # Load `lib/**.js` from disk instead of embedding
-  withTemporal ? false,
-  ncu-path ? null, # Provide this if you want to use a local version of NCU
-  icu ? pkgs.icu,
-  sharedLibDeps ? import ./tools/nix/sharedLibDeps.nix { inherit pkgs withTemporal; },
+
+  # Optional build tools / config
   ccache ? pkgs.ccache,
+  loadJSBuiltinsDynamically ? true, # Load `lib/**.js` from disk instead of embedding
   ninja ? pkgs.ninja,
-  devTools ? import ./tools/nix/devTools.nix { inherit pkgs ncu-path; },
-  benchmarkTools ? import ./tools/nix/benchmarkTools.nix { inherit pkgs; },
   extraConfigFlags ? [
     "--without-npm"
     "--debug-node"
-  ]
-  ++ pkgs.lib.optionals withTemporal [
-    "--v8-enable-temporal-support"
   ],
+
+  # Build options
+  icu ? pkgs.icu,
+  withAmaro ? true,
+  withSQLite ? true,
+  withSSL ? true,
+  withTemporal ? false,
+  sharedLibDeps ? import ./tools/nix/sharedLibDeps.nix {
+    inherit
+      pkgs
+      withSQLite
+      withSSL
+      withTemporal
+      ;
+  },
+
+  # dev tools (not needed to build Node.js, useful to maintain it)
+  ncu-path ? null, # Provide this if you want to use a local version of NCU
+  devTools ? import ./tools/nix/devTools.nix { inherit pkgs ncu-path; },
+  benchmarkTools ? import ./tools/nix/benchmarkTools.nix { inherit pkgs; },
 }:
 
 let
   useSharedICU = if builtins.isString icu then icu == "system" else icu != null;
   useSharedAda = builtins.hasAttr "ada" sharedLibDeps;
   useSharedOpenSSL = builtins.hasAttr "openssl" sharedLibDeps;
+
+  needsRustCompiler = withTemporal && !builtins.hasAttr "temporal_capi" sharedLibDeps;
 in
 pkgs.mkShell {
   inherit (pkgs.nodejs_latest) nativeBuildInputs;
 
   buildInputs = builtins.attrValues sharedLibDeps ++ pkgs.lib.optional useSharedICU icu;
 
-  packages = [
-    ccache
-  ]
-  ++ devTools
-  ++ benchmarkTools
-  ++ pkgs.lib.optionals (withTemporal && !builtins.hasAttr "temporal_capi" sharedLibDeps) [
-    pkgs.cargo
-    pkgs.rustc
-  ];
+  packages =
+    pkgs.lib.optional (ccache != null) ccache
+    ++ devTools
+    ++ benchmarkTools
+    ++ pkgs.lib.optionals needsRustCompiler [
+      pkgs.cargo
+      pkgs.rustc
+    ];
 
-  shellHook =
-    if (ccache != null) then
-      ''
-        export CC="${pkgs.lib.getExe ccache} $CC"
-        export CXX="${pkgs.lib.getExe ccache} $CXX"
-      ''
-    else
-      "";
+  shellHook = pkgs.lib.optionalString (ccache != null) ''
+    export CC="${pkgs.lib.getExe ccache} $CC"
+    export CXX="${pkgs.lib.getExe ccache} $CXX"
+  '';
 
   BUILD_WITH = if (ninja != null) then "ninja" else "make";
-  NINJA = if (ninja != null) then "${pkgs.lib.getExe ninja}" else "";
+  NINJA = pkgs.lib.optionalString (ninja != null) "${pkgs.lib.getExe ninja}";
   CI_SKIP_TESTS = pkgs.lib.concatStringsSep "," (
     [ ]
     ++ pkgs.lib.optionals useSharedAda [
@@ -70,12 +80,12 @@ pkgs.mkShell {
       )
     ]
     ++ extraConfigFlags
-    ++ pkgs.lib.optionals (ninja != null) [
-      "--ninja"
-    ]
-    ++ pkgs.lib.optionals loadJSBuiltinsDynamically [
-      "--node-builtin-modules-path=${builtins.toString ./.}"
-    ]
+    ++ pkgs.lib.optional (!withAmaro) "--without-amaro"
+    ++ pkgs.lib.optional (!withSQLite) "--without-sqlite"
+    ++ pkgs.lib.optional (!withSSL) "--without-ssl"
+    ++ pkgs.lib.optional withTemporal "--v8-enable-temporal-support"
+    ++ pkgs.lib.optional (ninja != null) "--ninja"
+    ++ pkgs.lib.optional loadJSBuiltinsDynamically "--node-builtin-modules-path=${builtins.toString ./.}"
     ++ pkgs.lib.concatMap (name: [
       "--shared-${builtins.replaceStrings [ "c-ares" ] [ "cares" ] name}"
       "--shared-${builtins.replaceStrings [ "c-ares" ] [ "cares" ] name}-libpath=${
@@ -86,4 +96,5 @@ pkgs.mkShell {
       }/include"
     ]) (builtins.attrNames sharedLibDeps)
   );
+  NOSQLITE = pkgs.lib.optionalString (!withSQLite) "1";
 }
diff --git a/test/embedding/test-embedding.js b/test/embedding/test-embedding.js
index 71c4f7f324c973..49706079fd8b6a 100644
--- a/test/embedding/test-embedding.js
+++ b/test/embedding/test-embedding.js
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ for (const extraSnapshotArgs of [
 }
 
 // Guarantee NODE_REPL_EXTERNAL_MODULE won't bypass kDisableNodeOptionsEnv
-{
+if (!process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
   spawnSyncAndExit(
     binary,
     ['require("os")'],
diff --git a/test/es-module/test-esm-import-flag.mjs b/test/es-module/test-esm-import-flag.mjs
index 81de3b11a38609..c0c22704f53a8a 100644
--- a/test/es-module/test-esm-import-flag.mjs
+++ b/test/es-module/test-esm-import-flag.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ const cjsImport = fixtures.fileURL('es-modules', 'cjs-file.cjs');
 const mjsEntry = fixtures.path('es-modules', 'mjs-file.mjs');
 const mjsImport = fixtures.fileURL('es-modules', 'mjs-file.mjs');
 
+const onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport = { skip: process.config.variables.node_without_node_options };
 
 describe('import modules using --import', { concurrency: !process.env.TEST_PARALLEL }, () => {
   it('should import when using --eval', async () => {
@@ -199,7 +200,7 @@ describe('import modules using --import', { concurrency: !process.env.TEST_PARAL
     assert.strictEqual(signal, null);
   });
 
-  it('should import files from the env before ones from the CLI', async () => {
+  it('should import files from the env before ones from the CLI', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
     const { code, signal, stderr, stdout } = await spawnPromisified(
       execPath,
       [
diff --git a/test/es-module/test-esm-symlink-type.js b/test/es-module/test-esm-symlink-type.js
index 76f03d4f46d457..29819b0b5ecca2 100644
--- a/test/es-module/test-esm-symlink-type.js
+++ b/test/es-module/test-esm-symlink-type.js
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ const assert = require('assert');
 const exec = require('child_process').execFile;
 const fs = require('fs');
 
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
+
 const tmpdir = require('../common/tmpdir');
 tmpdir.refresh();
 const tmpDir = tmpdir.path;
diff --git a/test/es-module/test-esm-type-field-errors.js b/test/es-module/test-esm-type-field-errors.js
index 4bf52f3ad6e7d3..dcd411202068b5 100644
--- a/test/es-module/test-esm-type-field-errors.js
+++ b/test/es-module/test-esm-type-field-errors.js
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ const assert = require('assert');
 const exec = require('child_process').execFile;
 const { describe, it } = require('node:test');
 
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
+
 const mjsFile = require.resolve('../fixtures/es-modules/mjs-file.mjs');
 const cjsFile = require.resolve('../fixtures/es-modules/cjs-file.cjs');
 const packageWithoutTypeMain =
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-cli-options-as-flags.js b/test/parallel/test-cli-options-as-flags.js
index 04e9e801b8ec81..403a18d162ca61 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-cli-options-as-flags.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-cli-options-as-flags.js
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ const fixtureFile = fixtures.path(path.join('options-as-flags', 'fixture.cjs'));
 const configFile = fixtures.path(path.join('options-as-flags', 'test-config.json'));
 const envFile = fixtures.path(path.join('options-as-flags', '.test.env'));
 
+const onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport = { skip: process.config.variables.node_without_node_options };
+
 describe('getOptionsAsFlagsFromBinding', () => {
   it('should extract flags from command line arguments', async () => {
     const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ describe('getOptionsAsFlagsFromBinding', () => {
     assert.strictEqual(flags.includes('--stack-trace-limit=512'), true);
   });
 
-  it('should extract flags from NODE_OPTIONS environment variable', async () => {
+  it('should extract flags from NODE_OPTIONS environment variable', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
     const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
       '--no-warnings',
       '--expose-internals',
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ describe('getOptionsAsFlagsFromBinding', () => {
     assert.strictEqual(flags.includes('--no-warnings'), true);
   });
 
-  it('should extract flags from config file', async () => {
+  it('should extract flags from config file', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
     const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
       '--no-warnings',
       '--expose-internals',
@@ -69,7 +71,7 @@ describe('getOptionsAsFlagsFromBinding', () => {
     assert.strictEqual(flags.includes('--no-warnings'), true);
   });
 
-  it('should extract flags from config file and command line', async () => {
+  it('should extract flags from config file and command line', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
     const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
       '--no-warnings',
       '--expose-internals',
@@ -92,7 +94,7 @@ describe('getOptionsAsFlagsFromBinding', () => {
     assert.strictEqual(flags.includes('--test-isolation=none'), true);
   });
 
-  it('should extract flags from .env file', async () => {
+  it('should extract flags from .env file', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
     const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
       '--no-warnings',
       '--expose-internals',
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-config-file.js b/test/parallel/test-config-file.js
index 9ffc2a90bee9e1..c18cc0d45683b6 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-config-file.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-config-file.js
@@ -13,7 +13,14 @@ const { test, it, describe } = require('node:test');
 const { chmodSync, writeFileSync, constants } = require('node:fs');
 const { join } = require('node:path');
 
+const onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport = { skip: process.config.variables.node_without_node_options };
 const onlyWithAmaro = { skip: !process.config.variables.node_use_amaro };
+const onlyWithAmaroAndNodeOptions = {
+  skip: !process.config.variables.node_use_amaro || process.config.variables.node_without_node_options,
+};
+const onlyWithInspectorAndNodeOptions = {
+  skip: !process.features.inspector || process.config.variables.node_without_node_options,
+};
 
 test('should handle non existing json', async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
@@ -51,7 +58,7 @@ test('should handle empty object json', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
 });
 
-test('should parse boolean flag', onlyWithAmaro, async () => {
+test('should parse boolean flag', onlyWithAmaroAndNodeOptions, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--experimental-config-file',
     fixtures.path('rc/transform-types.json'),
@@ -62,7 +69,7 @@ test('should parse boolean flag', onlyWithAmaro, async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
 });
 
-test('should parse boolean flag defaulted to true', async () => {
+test('should parse boolean flag defaulted to true', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--experimental-config-file',
     fixtures.path('rc/warnings-false.json'),
@@ -85,7 +92,7 @@ test('should throw an error when a flag is declared twice', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 9);
 });
 
-test('should override env-file', onlyWithAmaro, async () => {
+test('should override env-file', onlyWithAmaroAndNodeOptions, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--experimental-config-file',
@@ -128,7 +135,7 @@ test('should not override CLI flags', onlyWithAmaro, async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 1);
 });
 
-test('should parse array flag correctly', async () => {
+test('should parse array flag correctly', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--experimental-config-file',
@@ -152,7 +159,7 @@ test('should validate invalid array flag', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 9);
 });
 
-test('should validate array flag as string', async () => {
+test('should validate array flag as string', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--experimental-config-file',
@@ -188,7 +195,7 @@ test('should throw at flag not available in NODE_OPTIONS', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 9);
 });
 
-test('unsigned flag should be parsed correctly', async () => {
+test('unsigned flag should be parsed correctly', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--experimental-config-file',
@@ -225,7 +232,7 @@ test('v8 flag should not be allowed in config file', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 9);
 });
 
-test('string flag should be parsed correctly', async () => {
+test('string flag should be parsed correctly', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--test',
@@ -238,7 +245,7 @@ test('string flag should be parsed correctly', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
 });
 
-test('host port flag should be parsed correctly', { skip: !process.features.inspector }, async () => {
+test('host port flag should be parsed correctly', onlyWithInspectorAndNodeOptions, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--expose-internals',
@@ -251,7 +258,7 @@ test('host port flag should be parsed correctly', { skip: !process.features.insp
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
 });
 
-test('--inspect=true should be parsed correctly', { skip: !process.features.inspector }, async () => {
+test('--inspect=true should be parsed correctly', onlyWithInspectorAndNodeOptions, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--experimental-config-file',
@@ -351,7 +358,7 @@ test('broken value in node_options', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 9);
 });
 
-test('should use node.config.json as default', async () => {
+test('should use node.config.json as default', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--experimental-default-config-file',
@@ -364,7 +371,7 @@ test('should use node.config.json as default', async () => {
   assert.strictEqual(result.code, 0);
 });
 
-test('should override node.config.json when specificied', async () => {
+test('should override node.config.json when specificied', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
   const result = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
     '--no-warnings',
     '--experimental-default-config-file',
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-max-old-space-size-percentage.js b/test/parallel/test-max-old-space-size-percentage.js
index c5071d2f959ce3..88db60299e1526 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-max-old-space-size-percentage.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-max-old-space-size-percentage.js
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ invalidPercentages.forEach((input) => {
   assert.match(result.stderr.toString(), input[1]);
 });
 
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
+
 // Test NODE_OPTIONS with valid percentages
 validPercentages.forEach((input) => {
   const result = spawnSync(process.execPath, [], {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-permission-allow-child-process-cli.js b/test/parallel/test-permission-allow-child-process-cli.js
index f2ec02f02f46f5..d82332ba3d5084 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-permission-allow-child-process-cli.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-permission-allow-child-process-cli.js
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ const { isMainThread } = require('worker_threads');
 if (!isMainThread) {
   common.skip('This test only works on a main thread');
 }
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
 
 const assert = require('assert');
 const childProcess = require('child_process');
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-permission-child-process-inherit-flags.js b/test/parallel/test-permission-child-process-inherit-flags.js
index fb1506bf274f43..36e89bfb1c7286 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-permission-child-process-inherit-flags.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-permission-child-process-inherit-flags.js
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ const { isMainThread } = require('worker_threads');
 if (!isMainThread) {
   common.skip('This test only works on a main thread');
 }
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
 
 const assert = require('assert');
 const childProcess = require('child_process');
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-process-warnings.mjs b/test/parallel/test-process-warnings.mjs
index 907681b25c4630..75e4986b817dc1 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-process-warnings.mjs
+++ b/test/parallel/test-process-warnings.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ const dep1Message = /\(node:\d+\) \[DEP1\] DeprecationWarning/;
 const dep2Message = /\(node:\d+\) \[DEP2\] DeprecationWarning/;
 const experimentalWarningMessage = /\(node:\d+\) ExperimentalWarning/;
 
+const onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport = { skip: process.config.variables.node_without_node_options };
+
 describe('process warnings', { concurrency: !process.env.TEST_PARALLEL }, () => {
 
   it('should emit all warnings by default', async () => {
@@ -142,7 +144,7 @@ describe('process warnings', { concurrency: !process.env.TEST_PARALLEL }, () =>
       assert.strictEqual(signal, null);
     });
 
-    it('should be specifiable in NODE_OPTIONS', async () => {
+    it('should be specifiable in NODE_OPTIONS', onlyIfNodeOptionsSupport, async () => {
       const { stdout, stderr, code, signal } = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
         fixturePath,
       ], {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-unicode-node-options.js b/test/parallel/test-unicode-node-options.js
index e5a40d118791d3..3f8cf46d986cd3 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-unicode-node-options.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-unicode-node-options.js
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 'use strict';
 // Flags: --expose-internals
-require('../common');
+const common = require('../common');
 const { getOptionValue } = require('internal/options');
 const assert = require('assert');
 const cp = require('child_process');
 
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
+
 const expected_redirect_value = 'foó';
 
 if (process.argv.length === 2) {
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-worker-execargv-invalid.js b/test/parallel/test-worker-execargv-invalid.js
index be8ab0b8c423b7..06c33c678dbcb3 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-worker-execargv-invalid.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-worker-execargv-invalid.js
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 'use strict';
 
-require('../common');
+const common = require('../common');
 const assert = require('assert');
 const { Worker } = require('worker_threads');
 
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
+
 {
   const expectedErr = {
     code: 'ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE',
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-worker-node-options.js b/test/parallel/test-worker-node-options.js
index 7a26154e2f4800..73f71b57ac7607 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-worker-node-options.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-worker-node-options.js
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 'use strict';
 
-require('../common');
+const common = require('../common');
 const {
   spawnSyncAndExitWithoutError,
   spawnSyncAndAssert,
 } = require('../common/child_process');
+
+if (process.config.variables.node_without_node_options) {
+  common.skip('missing NODE_OPTIONS support');
+}
+
 const fixtures = require('../common/fixtures');
 spawnSyncAndExitWithoutError(
   process.execPath,
diff --git a/tools/nix/sharedLibDeps.nix b/tools/nix/sharedLibDeps.nix
index ba006fc9ce39ef..7142c4c766588c 100644
--- a/tools/nix/sharedLibDeps.nix
+++ b/tools/nix/sharedLibDeps.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 {
   pkgs ? import ./pkgs.nix { },
+  withSQLite ? true,
+  withSSL ? true,
   withTemporal ? false,
 }:
 {
@@ -12,7 +14,6 @@
     ngtcp2
     simdjson
     simdutf
-    sqlite
     uvwasi
     zlib
     zstd
@@ -28,6 +29,11 @@
       })
     ];
   };
+}
+// (pkgs.lib.optionalAttrs withSQLite {
+  inherit (pkgs) sqlite;
+})
+// (pkgs.lib.optionalAttrs withSSL {
   openssl = pkgs.openssl.overrideAttrs (old: {
     version = "3.5.4";
     src = pkgs.fetchurl {
@@ -45,7 +51,7 @@
       "dev"
     ];
   });
-}
+})
 // (pkgs.lib.optionalAttrs withTemporal {
   inherit (pkgs) temporal_capi;
 })