diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index d0697acff560..ad9747d3b64a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         ant -noinput echoproperties deploy embed test-nio test-status
       env:
-        ANT_OPTS: -Dtest.openssl.exists=false -Dtest.excludePerformance=true -Dtest.exclude=jakarta/servlet/http/TestHttpServletResponseSendError.java,org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestFormAuthenticatorA.java,org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestFormAuthenticatorB.java,org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestFormAuthenticatorC.java,org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestSSOnonLoginAndBasicAuthenticator.java,org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestSSOnonLoginAndDigestAuthenticator.java,org/apache/catalina/core/TestAsyncContextImpl.java,org/apache/catalina/core/TestAsyncContextStateChanges.java,org/apache/catalina/core/TestStandardContextResources.java,org/apache/catalina/core/TestStandardWrapper.java,org/apache/catalina/loader/TestVirtualContext.java,org/apache/catalina/mapper/TestMapperWebapps.java,org/apache/catalina/nonblocking/TestNonBlockingAPI.java,org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletEncodingPassThroughBom.java,org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletEncodingWithBom.java,org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletEncodingWithoutBom.java,org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletIfMatchRequests.java,org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServlet.java,org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletOptions.java,org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestWebdavServletOptionsFile.java,org/apache/catalina/startup/TestContextConfig.java,org/apache/catalina/startup/TestHostConfigAutomaticDeploymentA.java,org/apache/catalina/startup/TestHostConfigAutomaticDeploymentB.java,org/apache/catalina/startup/TestHostConfigAutomaticDeploymentC.java,org/apache/catalina/valves/rewrite/TestRewriteValve.java,org/apache/catalina/valves/TestStuckThreadDetectionValve.java,org/apache/coyote/ajp/TestAbstractAjpProcessor.java,org/apache/coyote/http11/filters/TestChunkedInputFilter.java,org/apache/coyote/http11/TestHttp11InputBufferCRLF.java,org/apache/coyote/http11/TestHttp11InputBuffer.java,org/apache/coyote/http11/TestHttp11Processor.java,org/apache/coyote/http2/TestAsync.java,org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2ConnectionTimeouts.java,org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2Limits.java,org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2Section_6_8.java,org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2Timeouts.java,org/apache/coyote/http2/TestStreamQueryString.java,org/apache/el/TestELInJsp.java,org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestCompiler.java,org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestEncodingDetector.java,org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestGenerator.java,org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestJspConfig.java,org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestJspDocumentParser.java,org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestValidator.java,org/apache/jasper/optimizations/TestELInterpreterTagSetters.java,org/apache/jasper/optimizations/TestStringInterpreterTagSetters.java,org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestCustomHttpJspPage.java,org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestJspContextWrapper.java,org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestJspRuntimeLibrary.java,org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestPageContextImpl.java,org/apache/jasper/servlet/TestTldScanner.java,org/apache/naming/resources/TestWarDirContext.java,org/apache/naming/TestEnvEntry.java,org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestClientCert.java,org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestCustomSslTrustManager.java,org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestSSLHostConfigCompat.java,org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestSsl.java,org/apache/tomcat/websocket/server/TestSlowClient.java,org/apache/tomcat/websocket/server/TestWsRemoteEndpointImplServerDeadlock.java,org/apache/tomcat/websocket/TestWebSocketFrameClientSSL.java,org/apache/tomcat/websocket/TestWsWebSocketContainer.java,org/apache/tomcat/websocket/TestWsWebSocketContainerTimeoutServer.java,org/apache/catalina/tribes/group/interceptors/TestTcpFailureDetector.java,org/apache/catalina/filters/TestRateLimitFilter.java,jakarta/servlet/http/TestHttpServletDoHeadInvalidWrite*.java,jakarta/servlet/http/TestHttpServletDoHeadValidWrite*.java
+        ANT_OPTS: -Dtest.openssl.exists=false -Dtest.excludePerformance=true -Dtest.profile=smoke
 
     - name: Upload logs
       if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index e773724134bd..0dba1d5125de 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@
   <property name="tomcat-jdbc-src.jar" value="${tomcat.pool}/tomcat-jdbc-src.jar"/>
 
   <!-- Tests To Run -->
-  <property name="test.name" value="**/Test*.java"/>
+  <!-- NOTE: test.name default is set in -test-profile-init target to allow profile override -->
   <property name="test.formatter" value="-Dorg.apache.juli.formatter=java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter"/>
   <property name="test.relaxTiming" value="false"/>
 
@@ -1942,14 +1942,104 @@
   <property name="junit.formatter.usefile" value="true" />
   <property name="junit.formatter.extension" value=".txt" />
 
+  <!-- ==================== Test Profile System ==================== -->
+  <!--
+    Property-based test profiles for convenient, selective test execution.
+
+    Usage: ant test -Dtest.profile=<profile-name>
+
+    Precedence: test.entry > test.profile > default
+    If test.entry is set, the profile is ignored to maintain backward compatibility.
+
+    Profile patterns are defined in test-profiles.properties test.profile properties
+    to keep this file readable.
+  -->
+
+  <!-- ================= Initialize Test Profile Property Values ================ -->
+
+  <!-- We read test profile definitions from "test-profiles.properties.default"   -->
+  <!-- and also from "test-profiles.properties" if it exists.                     -->
+  <!-- The values in "test-profiles.properties" have stronger preference.         -->
+  <!-- If you want to customize your build, you can either change the values      -->
+  <!-- directly in the default file, or create a new test-profiles.properties and -->
+  <!-- set the values there. This way you don't have to change a file which       -->
+  <!-- is part of the original project source code.                               -->
+  <!-- See "test-profiles.properties.default" in the top level directory for some -->
+  <!-- property values you may customize.                                         -->
+  <property file="${user.home}/test-profiles.properties"/>
+  <property file="test-profiles.properties"/>
+  <property file="test-profiles.properties.default"/>
+
+  <!-- Macro to set test pattern based on profile name -->
+  <macrodef name="set-profile-pattern">
+    <attribute name="profile"/>
+    <sequential>
+      <!-- Set test.name property based on the profile attribute -->
+      <condition property="test.name" value="${test.profile.smoke}">
+        <equals arg1="@{profile}" arg2="smoke"/>
+      </condition>
+      <condition property="test.name" value="${test.profile.catalina}">
+        <equals arg1="@{profile}" arg2="catalina"/>
+      </condition>
+      <condition property="test.name" value="${test.profile.coyote}">
+        <equals arg1="@{profile}" arg2="coyote"/>
+      </condition>
+      <condition property="test.name" value="${test.profile.performance}">
+        <equals arg1="@{profile}" arg2="performance"/>
+      </condition>
+      <condition property="test.name" value="${test.profile.tribes}">
+        <equals arg1="@{profile}" arg2="tribes"/>
+      </condition>
+      <condition property="test.name" value="${test.profile.buildutil}">
+        <equals arg1="@{profile}" arg2="buildutil"/>
+      </condition>
+    </sequential>
+  </macrodef>
+
+  <!-- New internal target to initialize tests before moving to test target -->
+  <target name="-test-profile-init" if="test.profile" unless="test.entry">
+    <set-profile-pattern profile="${test.profile}"/>
+
+    <!-- Validate that the profile exists -->
+    <fail message="Unknown test profile '${test.profile}'. Check test-profiles.properties[.default] for available profiles.">
+      <condition>
+        <not><isset property="test.name"/></not>
+      </condition>
+    </fail>
+
+    <!-- Special handling for performance profile: disable default exclusion -->
+    <condition property="test.excludePerformance" value="false">
+      <equals arg1="${test.profile}" arg2="performance"/>
+    </condition>
+
+    <!-- Special handling for buildutil profile: include buildutil tests -->
+    <condition property="test.includeBuildutil" value="true">
+      <equals arg1="${test.profile}" arg2="buildutil"/>
+    </condition>
+
+    <!-- Special handling for tribes profile: include old slow/flaky tribes tests -->
+    <condition property="test.includeTribes" value="true">
+      <equals arg1="${test.profile}" arg2="tribes"/>
+    </condition>
+
+    <echo message="Test profile: ${test.profile}"/>
+  </target>
+
+  <!-- Set default test.name if no profile specified, using ant's immutability feature -->
+  <target name="-test-name-default" depends="-test-profile-init">
+    <property name="test.name" value="**/Test*.java"/>
+  </target>
+
+  <!-- ==================== End of Test Profile System ==================== -->
+
   <target name="test" description="Runs the JUnit test cases"
-          depends="test-nio,coverage-report,test-status" />
+          depends="-test-name-default,test-nio,coverage-report,test-status" />
 
   <target name="test-clean" description="Runs the JUnit test cases"
-          depends="clean-classes,test-nio,coverage-report,test-status" />
+          depends="clean-classes,-test-name-default,test-nio,coverage-report,test-status" />
 
   <target name="test-only" description="Runs the JUnit test cases, without compilation"
-          depends="test-only-nio,test-status" />
+          depends="-test-name-default,test-only-nio,test-status" />
 
   <target name="test-status"
           description="Analyses logs directory and reports on skipped tests, test failures and test errors">
@@ -2092,14 +2182,14 @@
             <fileset dir="test" includes="${test.name}" excludes="${test.exclude}">
               <!-- Exclude helper classes -->
               <exclude name="**/Tester*.java" />
-              <!-- Exclude the tests known to fail -->
-              <exclude name="org/apache/catalina/tribes/test/**" />
+              <!-- Exclude old tribes tests (slow/flaky, excluded since 2011, unless explicitly requested via tribes profile) -->
+              <exclude name="org/apache/catalina/tribes/test/**" unless="test.includeTribes" />
               <!-- Exclude the OpenSSL tests unless OpenSSL is available -->
               <exclude name="org/apache/tomcat/util/net/openssl/ciphers/**" unless="${test.openssl.exists}" />
               <!-- Exclude performance tests. E.g. on systems with slow/inconsistent timing -->
               <exclude name="**/*Performance.java" if="${test.excludePerformance}" />
-              <!-- Exclude tests that Gump can't compile -->
-              <exclude name="org/apache/tomcat/buildutil/**" />
+              <!-- Exclude tests that Gump can't compile (unless explicitly requested via buildutil profile) -->
+              <exclude name="org/apache/tomcat/buildutil/**" unless="test.includeBuildutil" />
               <!-- Exclude tests that require large heaps -->
               <exclude name="**/*LargeHeap.java" unless="${test.includeLargeHeap}" />
             </fileset>
diff --git a/test-profiles.properties.default b/test-profiles.properties.default
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6f73385b3870
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-profiles.properties.default
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# test-profiles.properties
+#
+# This file contains test profile pattern definitions for ant test targets.
+# These patterns are used by the test profile system in build.xml.
+#
+# To add a new profile:
+#   1. Add the property: test.profile.myprofile=pattern
+#   2. Add a condition in build.xml's set-profile-pattern macro
+#
+# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# Smoke test profile
+test.profile.smoke=\
+jakarta/servlet/http/TestHttpServletResponseSendError.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestFormAuthenticatorA.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestFormAuthenticatorB.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestFormAuthenticatorC.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestSSOnonLoginAndBasicAuthenticator.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/authenticator/TestSSOnonLoginAndDigestAuthenticator.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/core/TestAsyncContextImpl.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/core/TestAsyncContextStateChanges.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/core/TestStandardContextResources.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/core/TestStandardWrapper.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/loader/TestVirtualContext.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/mapper/TestMapperWebapps.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/nonblocking/TestNonBlockingAPI.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletEncodingPassThroughBom.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletEncodingWithBom.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletEncodingWithoutBom.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletIfMatchRequests.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServlet.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestDefaultServletOptions.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/servlets/TestWebdavServletOptionsFile.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/startup/TestContextConfig.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/startup/TestHostConfigAutomaticDeploymentA.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/startup/TestHostConfigAutomaticDeploymentB.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/startup/TestHostConfigAutomaticDeploymentC.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/valves/rewrite/TestRewriteValve.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/valves/TestStuckThreadDetectionValve.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/ajp/TestAbstractAjpProcessor.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http11/filters/TestChunkedInputFilter.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http11/TestHttp11InputBufferCRLF.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http11/TestHttp11InputBuffer.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http11/TestHttp11Processor.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http2/TestAsync.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2ConnectionTimeouts.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2Limits.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2Section_6_8.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http2/TestHttp2Timeouts.java,\
+org/apache/coyote/http2/TestStreamQueryString.java,\
+org/apache/el/TestELInJsp.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestCompiler.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestEncodingDetector.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestGenerator.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestJspConfig.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestJspDocumentParser.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/compiler/TestValidator.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/optimizations/TestELInterpreterTagSetters.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/optimizations/TestStringInterpreterTagSetters.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestCustomHttpJspPage.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestJspContextWrapper.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestJspRuntimeLibrary.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/runtime/TestPageContextImpl.java,\
+org/apache/jasper/servlet/TestTldScanner.java,\
+org/apache/naming/resources/TestWarDirContext.java,\
+org/apache/naming/TestEnvEntry.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestClientCert.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestCustomSslTrustManager.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestSSLHostConfigCompat.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/util/net/TestSsl.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/websocket/server/TestSlowClient.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/websocket/server/TestWsRemoteEndpointImplServerDeadlock.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/websocket/TestWebSocketFrameClientSSL.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/websocket/TestWsWebSocketContainer.java,\
+org/apache/tomcat/websocket/TestWsWebSocketContainerTimeoutServer.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/tribes/group/interceptors/TestTcpFailureDetector.java,\
+org/apache/catalina/filters/TestRateLimitFilter.java,\
+jakarta/servlet/http/TestHttpServletDoHeadInvalidWrite*.java,\
+jakarta/servlet/http/TestHttpServletDoHeadValidWrite*.java
+
+# Component test profiles
+test.profile.catalina=**/catalina/**/*Test*.java
+test.profile.coyote=**/coyote/**/*Test*.java
+
+# Performance test profile
+test.profile.performance=**/*Performance.java
+
+# Tribes test profile
+test.profile.tribes=**/tribes/**/*Test*.java
+
+# Build utility test profile: Tests for build tools (normally excluded)
+# Note: These tests depend on classes not in output JARs and are excluded by default
+test.profile.buildutil=**/buildutil/**/*Test*.java
diff --git a/webapps/docs/changelog.xml b/webapps/docs/changelog.xml
index 360d80a654b5..92d92fb8f32c 100644
--- a/webapps/docs/changelog.xml
+++ b/webapps/docs/changelog.xml
@@ -317,6 +317,12 @@
   </subsection>
   <subsection name="Other">
     <changelog>
+      <add>
+        Add test profile system for selective test execution. Profiles can be
+        specified via <code>-Dtest.profile=&lt;name&gt;</code> to run specific
+        test subsets without using patterns directly. Profile patterns are
+        defined in <code>test-profiles.properties</code>. (csutherl)
+      </add>
       <update>
         Update Derby to 10.17.1.0. (markt)
       </update>