diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml
index 037adf71db..a78a9d6117 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-linux.yml
@@ -318,14 +318,13 @@ jobs:
           pushd "${CUDA_BINDINGS_ARTIFACTS_DIR}"
           if [[ "${{ matrix.LOCAL_CTK }}" == 1 ]]; then
             ls $CUDA_PATH
-            pip install *.whl
+            pip install $(ls *.whl)[test]
           else
-            pip install $(ls *.whl)[all]
+            pip install $(ls *.whl)[all,test]
           fi
           popd
 
           pushd ./cuda_bindings
-          pip install -r requirements.txt
           ${SANITIZER_CMD} pytest -rxXs -v tests/
 
           # It is a bit convoluted to run the Cython tests against CTK wheels,
@@ -356,11 +355,10 @@ jobs:
           fi
           TEST_CUDA_MAJOR="$(cut -d '.' -f 1 <<< ${{ matrix.CUDA_VER }})"
           pushd "${CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACTS_DIR}"
-          pip install $(ls *.whl)["cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}"]
+          pip install $(ls *.whl)["cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}","test-cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}"]
           popd
 
           pushd ./cuda_core
-          pip install -r "tests/requirements-cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}.txt"
           ${SANITIZER_CMD} pytest -rxXs -v tests/
 
           # It is a bit convoluted to run the Cython tests against CTK wheels,
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
index 4473ad8392..09b2b69adc 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-wheel-windows.yml
@@ -246,14 +246,13 @@ jobs:
           if ('${{ matrix.LOCAL_CTK }}' -eq '1') {
             Get-ChildItem $env:CUDA_PATH
             echo $PATH
-            pip install (Get-ChildItem -Filter *.whl).FullName
+            pip install "$((Get-ChildItem -Filter *.whl).FullName)[test]"
           } else {
-            pip install "$((Get-ChildItem -Filter *.whl).FullName)[all]"
+            pip install "$((Get-ChildItem -Filter *.whl).FullName)[all,test]"
           }
           Pop-Location
 
           Push-Location ./cuda_bindings
-          pip install -r requirements.txt
           pytest -rxXs -v tests/
           # skip Cython tests for now (NVIDIA/cuda-python#466)
           Pop-Location
@@ -273,11 +272,10 @@ jobs:
           }
           $TEST_CUDA_MAJOR = '${{ matrix.CUDA_VER }}' -split '\.' | Select-Object -First 1
           Push-Location $env:CUDA_CORE_ARTIFACTS_DIR
-          pip install "$((Get-ChildItem -Filter *.whl).FullName)[cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}]"
+          pip install "$((Get-ChildItem -Filter *.whl).FullName)[cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR},test-cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}]"
           Pop-Location
 
           Push-Location ./cuda_core
-          pip install -r "tests/requirements-cu${TEST_CUDA_MAJOR}.txt"
           pytest -rxXs -v tests/
           Pop-Location
 
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/README.md b/cuda_bindings/README.md
index 800de17f7a..a0657706d0 100644
--- a/cuda_bindings/README.md
+++ b/cuda_bindings/README.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ This subpackage adheres to the developing practices described in the parent meta
 
 ## Testing
 
-Latest dependencies can be found in [requirements.txt](https://github.com/NVIDIA/cuda-python/blob/main/cuda_bindings/requirements.txt).
+Testing dependencies can be installed using the `[test]` optional dependency identifier. For example, `pip install -v -e .[test]`.
 
 Multiple testing options are available:
 
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/pyproject.toml b/cuda_bindings/pyproject.toml
index e13dc015c7..f1a97e8069 100644
--- a/cuda_bindings/pyproject.toml
+++ b/cuda_bindings/pyproject.toml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: LicenseRef-NVIDIA-SOFTWARE-LICENSE
 
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools>=77.0.0", "cython", "pyclibrary"]
+requires = ["setuptools>=77.0.0", "cython>=3.0", "pyclibrary>=0.1.7"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
@@ -37,6 +37,15 @@ all = [
     "nvidia-nvjitlink-cu12>=12.3",
 ]
 
+test = [
+    "cython>=3.0",
+    "setuptools",
+    "numpy>=1.21.1",
+    "pytest>=6.2.4",
+    "pytest-benchmark>=3.4.1",
+    "llvmlite"
+]
+
 [project.urls]
 Repository = "https://github.com/NVIDIA/cuda-python"
 Documentation = "https://nvidia.github.io/cuda-python/"
diff --git a/cuda_bindings/requirements.txt b/cuda_bindings/requirements.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 09041ba1ff..0000000000
--- a/cuda_bindings/requirements.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-Cython>=3.0.0
-pytest>=6.2.4
-pytest-benchmark>=3.4.1
-numpy>=1.21.1
-pyclibrary>=0.1.7
-setuptools
-tomli; python_version < "3.11"
-versioneer==0.29
-wheel
-pywin32; sys_platform == 'win32'
-# llvmlite # Uncomment to generate MINIMAL_NVVMIR_BITCODE_STATIC for test_nvvm.py (see PR #443).
diff --git a/cuda_core/pyproject.toml b/cuda_core/pyproject.toml
index 40b4130983..8518a2e282 100644
--- a/cuda_core/pyproject.toml
+++ b/cuda_core/pyproject.toml
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ dependencies = [
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 cu11 = ["cuda-bindings==11.8.*"]
 cu12 = ["cuda-bindings==12.*"]
+test = ["cython>=3.0", "setuptools", "pytest>=6.2.4"]
+test-cu11 = ["cuda-core[test]", "cupy-cuda11x", "nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu11"]  # runtime headers needed by CuPy
+test-cu12 = ["cuda-core[test]", "cupy-cuda12x", "nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12"]  # runtime headers needed by CuPy
 
 [project.urls]
 homepage = "https://nvidia.github.io/cuda-python/"
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu11.txt b/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu11.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index d9bd566c76..0000000000
--- a/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu11.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-pytest
-# TODO: remove this hack once cupy has a cp313 build
-cupy-cuda11x; python_version < "3.13"
-nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu11  # headers consumed by CuPy
diff --git a/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu12.txt b/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu12.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 18f6736033..0000000000
--- a/cuda_core/tests/requirements-cu12.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-pytest
-# TODO: remove this hack once cupy has a cp313 build
-cupy-cuda12x; python_version < "3.13"
-nvidia-cuda-runtime-cu12  # headers consumed by CuPy