diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index 5eb886bf..c4578f5b 100644
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -77,8 +77,6 @@ let
 
       in
         {
-          xo-unit           = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-unit.nix           { buildDocs = true; };
-#
           xo-expression     = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-expression.nix     {};
           xo-tokenizer      = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-tokenizer.nix      { buildDocs = true; };
           xo-reader         = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-reader.nix         {};
@@ -108,6 +106,7 @@ let
             xo-reflect        = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-reflect.nix        {};
             xo-pyreflect      = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-pyreflect.nix      {};
             xo-ratio          = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-ratio.nix          { buildDocs = true; buildExamples = true; };
+            xo-unit           = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-unit.nix           { buildDocs = true; buildExamples = true; };
             xo-pyunit         = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-pyunit.nix         {};
             #
             xo-callback       = self.callPackage pkgs/xo-callback.nix       {};
diff --git a/pkgs/xo-unit.nix b/pkgs/xo-unit.nix
index 997df9de..d30d45e9 100644
--- a/pkgs/xo-unit.nix
+++ b/pkgs/xo-unit.nix
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 
   doxygen, sphinx, graphviz,
 
-  xo-cmake, xo-ratio, xo-flatstring,
+  xo-cmake, xo-ratio, xo-flatstring, xo-indentlog,
 
   buildDocs ? false,
+  buildExamples ? false,
 } :
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation (finalattrs:
@@ -18,9 +19,13 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalattrs:
 
     src = ../xo-unit;
 
-    cmakeFlags = ["-DCMAKE_MODULE_PATH=${xo-cmake}/share/cmake"];
+    cmakeFlags = ["-DCMAKE_MODULE_PATH=${xo-cmake}/share/cmake"]
+                 ++ lib.optionals buildDocs ["-DXO_ENABLE_DOCS=on"]
+                 ++ lib.optionals buildExamples ["-DXO_ENABLE_EXAMPLES=on"];
 
     inherit buildDocs;
+    inherit buildExamples;
+
     doCheck = true;
 
     postBuild = lib.optionalString buildDocs ''
@@ -34,6 +39,9 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalattrs:
       catch2
       xo-cmake
     ]
+    ++ lib.optionals buildExamples [
+      xo-indentlog
+    ]
     ++ lib.optionals buildDocs [
       doxygen
       sphinx
diff --git a/xo-unit/CMakeLists.txt b/xo-unit/CMakeLists.txt
index 3b88ffcb..14ed05a0 100644
--- a/xo-unit/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/xo-unit/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,18 +26,26 @@ set(SELF_LIB xo_unit)
 xo_add_headeronly_library(${SELF_LIB})
 xo_install_library4(${SELF_LIB} ${PROJECT_NAME}Targets)
 xo_export_cmake_config(${PROJECT_NAME} ${PROJECT_VERSION} ${PROJECT_NAME}Targets)
+xo_headeronly_dependency(${SELF_LIB} xo_flatstring)
+xo_headeronly_dependency(${SELF_LIB} xo_ratio)
+
+if (XO_ENABLE_EXAMPLES)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex1    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex2    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex3    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex4    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex5    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex6    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex7    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex8    DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex_qty DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+    install(TARGETS xo_unit_ex_su  DESTINATION bin/xo/example)
+endif()
 
 # ----------------------------------------------------------------
-# docs targets depend on all the other library/utest targets
+# docs targets depend on all the other library/utest targets,
+# must come after them
 #
 add_subdirectory(docs)
 
-# ----------------------------------------------------------------
-# dependencies
-
-# for some reason,  this doesn't reliably bring in xo_flatstring dependency
-xo_headeronly_dependency(${SELF_LIB} xo_flatstring)
-xo_headeronly_dependency(${SELF_LIB} xo_ratio)
-# etc..
-
 # end CMakeLists.txt