diff --git a/run_tests.sh b/run_tests.sh
index e63a0492..92e8621b 100755
--- a/run_tests.sh
+++ b/run_tests.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ OPT_CREATE_PGSQL=yes # create the PostgreSQL test environment
 OPT_DROP_REDIS=yes   # drop the redis test environment
 OPT_DROP_PGSQL=yes   # drop the PostgreSQL test environment
 OPT_COVERAGE=no      # run tests with coverage
+OPT_DOWNLOAD_SQL=yes # download a fresh copy of sql files
 
 export PGAPPNAME=cartodb_tiler_tester
 
@@ -73,6 +74,10 @@ while [ -n "$1" ]; do
                 OPT_CREATE_REDIS=no
                 shift
                 continue
+        elif test "$1" = "--no-sql-download"; then
+                OPT_DOWNLOAD_SQL=no
+                shift
+                continue
         elif test "$1" = "--with-coverage"; then
                 OPT_COVERAGE=yes
                 shift
@@ -113,6 +118,9 @@ fi
 if test x"$OPT_CREATE_REDIS" != xyes; then
   PREPARE_DB_OPTS="$PREPARE_DB_OPTS --skip-redis"
 fi
+if test x"$OPT_DOWNLOAD_SQL" != xyes; then
+  PREPARE_DB_OPTS="$PREPARE_DB_OPTS --no-sql-download"
+fi
 
 echo "Preparing the environment"
 cd ${BASEDIR}/test/support
diff --git a/test/support/prepare_db.sh b/test/support/prepare_db.sh
index a0cfa621..dbf27d35 100755
--- a/test/support/prepare_db.sh
+++ b/test/support/prepare_db.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 PREPARE_REDIS=yes
 PREPARE_PGSQL=yes
+DOWNLOAD_SQL_FILES=yes
 
 while [ -n "$1" ]; do
   if test "$1" = "--skip-pg"; then
@@ -20,6 +21,9 @@ while [ -n "$1" ]; do
   elif test "$1" = "--skip-redis"; then
     PREPARE_REDIS=no
     shift; continue
+  elif test "$1" = "--no-sql-download"; then
+    DOWNLOAD_SQL_FILES=no
+    shift; continue
   fi
 done
 
@@ -79,7 +83,10 @@ if test x"$PREPARE_PGSQL" = xyes; then
   do
     CURL_ARGS="${CURL_ARGS}\"https://github.com/CartoDB/cartodb-postgresql/raw/master/scripts-available/$i.sql\" -o sql/$i.sql "
   done
-  echo ${CURL_ARGS} | xargs curl -L -s
+  if test x"$DOWNLOAD_SQL_FILES" = xyes; then
+    echo "Downloading and updating: ${REMOTE_SQL_SCRIPTS}"
+    echo ${CURL_ARGS} | xargs curl -L -s
+  fi
 
   ALL_SQL_SCRIPTS="${REMOTE_SQL_SCRIPTS} ${LOCAL_SQL_SCRIPTS}"
   for i in ${ALL_SQL_SCRIPTS}