diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/pr_tests.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1c07ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr_tests.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# Runs the unit tests on every pull request (and on pushes to main).
+# These tests are native-free (they use a fake CMMCore), so they run on a
+# stock CI runner without the MMCoreJ native library. The native-dependent
+# TestAcquisitionEvent is excluded via the maven-surefire-plugin config in
+# pom.xml.
+
+name: PR tests
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+
+# Cancel an in-progress run if a new commit is pushed to the same ref.
+concurrency:
+  group: pr-tests-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  test:
+    name: Run Maven tests
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+
+      - name: Set up JDK 8
+        uses: actions/setup-java@v3
+        with:
+          java-version: 8
+          distribution: 'zulu'
+          cache: maven
+
+      - name: Run tests
+        run: mvn --batch-mode test