diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index b4a13a26..991e2188 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ require 'rake/testtask'
 
 Bundler::GemHelper.install_tasks
 
-desc "Updates the json-schema common test suite to the latest version"
-task :update_common_tests do
+desc "Downloads the json-schema common test suite"
+task :download_common_tests do
+  update_test_suite = !!ENV['UPDATE_TEST_SUITE']
+
   unless File.read(".git/config").include?('submodule "test/test-suite"')
     sh "git submodule init"
   end
@@ -13,7 +15,7 @@ task :update_common_tests do
   puts "Updating json-schema common test suite..."
 
   begin
-    sh "git submodule update --remote --quiet"
+    sh "git submodule update --quiet" + (update_test_suite ? " --remote" : "")
   rescue StandardError
     STDERR.puts "Failed to update common test suite."
   end
@@ -63,6 +65,4 @@ Rake::TestTask.new do |t|
   t.test_files = FileList.new('test/*_test.rb')
 end
 
-task update: [:update_common_tests, :update_meta_schemas]
-
-task :default => :test
+task :default => [:download_common_tests, :test]