diff --git a/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build b/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build
index 79d7e938aca..6a938ca8f29 100644
--- a/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build
+++ b/core/tests/unit/ldml/meson.build
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ if node.found()
   subdir('invalid-keyboards')
 endif
 
-
 # Build ldml test executable
 
 if cpp_compiler.get_id() == 'emscripten'
@@ -49,6 +48,14 @@ else
   invalid_test_path = join_paths(meson.current_build_dir(),'invalid-keyboards')
 endif
 
+# collect some data from node.js
+node_versions = custom_target(
+  'nodeversions.json',
+  command: [node, '-p', 'JSON.stringify(process.versions)'],
+  capture: true, # collect stdout from nodejs
+  output: ['nodeversions.json'],
+)
+
 ldml = executable('ldml',
     'ldml.cpp',
     'ldml_test_source.cpp',
@@ -108,8 +115,10 @@ u = executable('test_unicode', 'test_unicode.cpp',
     include_directories: [inc, libsrc, '../../../../developer/src/ext/json'],
     link_args: links + tests_flags,
     dependencies: [icu_uc, icu_i18n],
-    objects: lib.extract_all_objects(recursive: false))
-test('test_unicode', u, suite: 'ldml')
+    objects: lib.extract_all_objects(recursive: false),
+
+)
+test('test_unicode', u, suite: 'ldml', args: [node_versions])
 
 
 # Run tests on all keyboards (`tests` defined in keyboards/meson.build)
diff --git a/core/tests/unit/ldml/test_unicode.cpp b/core/tests/unit/ldml/test_unicode.cpp
index 6a3ac1cce95..e86b3f749a6 100644
--- a/core/tests/unit/ldml/test_unicode.cpp
+++ b/core/tests/unit/ldml/test_unicode.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
 */
 
 #include <string>
+#include <fstream>
+#include <iostream>
+
 #include "keyman_core.h"
 
 #include "path.hpp"
@@ -14,8 +17,11 @@
 
 #include <test_assert.h>
 #include "../emscripten_filesystem.h"
+
+#include "core_icu.h"
 #include <unicode/uversion.h>
 #include <unicode/uchar.h>
+#include "json.hpp"
 
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Unicode version tests
@@ -23,7 +29,17 @@
 
 std::string arg_path;
 
-void test_unicode_versions() {
+nlohmann::json load_json(const km::core::path &jsonpath) {
+  std::cout << "== " << __FUNCTION__ << " " << jsonpath << std::endl;
+  std::ifstream json_file(jsonpath.native());
+  if (!json_file) {
+    return -1; // no file
+  }
+  nlohmann::json data = nlohmann::json::parse(json_file);
+  return data;
+}
+
+void test_unicode_versions(const nlohmann::json versions) {
   std::cout << "== " << __FUNCTION__ << std::endl;
 
   std::cout << "ICU: " << U_ICU_VERSION << std::endl;
@@ -31,9 +47,16 @@ void test_unicode_versions() {
 
 }
 
-void test_all() {
+int test_all(const char *jsonpath) {
   std::cout << "= " << __FUNCTION__ << std::endl;
-  test_unicode_versions();
+
+  auto versions = load_json(km::core::path(jsonpath));
+
+  assert(!versions.empty());
+
+  test_unicode_versions(versions);
+
+  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }
 
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -41,18 +64,20 @@ void test_all() {
 //-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 constexpr const auto help_str = "\
-test_unicode [--color]\n\
+test_unicode [--color] nodeversions.json\n\
 \n\
   --color         Force color output\n";
 
 int error_args() {
   std::cerr << "test_unicode: Invalid arguments." << std::endl;
   std::cout << help_str;
-  return 1;
+  return EXIT_FAILURE;
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv []) {
-  auto arg_color = argc > 1 && std::string(argv[1]) == "--color";
+  int first_arg = 1;
+  auto arg_color = argc > first_arg && std::string(argv[first_arg]) == "--color";
+  if (arg_color) first_arg++;
   console_color::enabled = console_color::isaterminal() || arg_color;
 
   // Get the path of the current executable
@@ -68,5 +93,12 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv []) {
   arg_path = get_wasm_file_path(arg_path);
 #endif
 
-  test_all();
+  if (argc <= first_arg) {
+    return error_args();
+  }
+  auto jsonpath = argv[first_arg++];
+
+  int rc = test_all(jsonpath);
+
+  return rc;
 }