diff --git a/source/dub/project.d b/source/dub/project.d
index 7ed0d9a..988cefd 100644
--- a/source/dub/project.d
+++ b/source/dub/project.d
@@ -273,7 +273,10 @@
 
 		BuildSettingsTemplate tcinfo = rootPackage.recipe.getConfiguration(base_config).buildSettings;
 		tcinfo.targetType = TargetType.executable;
-		tcinfo.targetName = config;
+
+		// set targetName unless specified explicitly in unittest base configuration
+		if (tcinfo.targetName.empty || base_config != "unittest")
+			tcinfo.targetName = config;
 
 		auto mainfil = tcinfo.mainSourceFile;
 		if (!mainfil.length) mainfil = rootPackage.recipe.buildSettings.mainSourceFile;
diff --git a/test/issue1856-build-unittest.sh b/test/issue1856-build-unittest.sh
index d090092..a77a371 100755
--- a/test/issue1856-build-unittest.sh
+++ b/test/issue1856-build-unittest.sh
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 $DUB build    --single "$TMPDIR/no_ut.d" --config=unittest --build=unittest
 "$TMPDIR/no_ut-test-library"
 
-# partial unittest config
+# partial unittest config - targetPath only
 cat > "$TMPDIR/partial_ut.d" <<EOF
 /+ dub.sdl:
 name "partial_ut"
@@ -36,7 +36,23 @@
 $DUB build    --single "$TMPDIR/partial_ut.d" --config=unittest --build=unittest
 "$TMPDIR/bin/partial_ut-test-unittest"
 
-# full unittest config
+# partial unittest config - targetPath & targetName
+cat > "$TMPDIR/partial_ut2.d" <<EOF
+/+ dub.sdl:
+name "partial_ut2"
+targetType "library"
+configuration "unittest" {
+    targetPath "bin"
+    targetName "ut"
+}
++/
+void foo() {}
+EOF
+$DUB describe --single "$TMPDIR/partial_ut2.d" --config=unittest | grep -q '"targetName": "ut"'
+$DUB build    --single "$TMPDIR/partial_ut2.d" --config=unittest --build=unittest
+"$TMPDIR/bin/ut"
+
+# full unittest config (i.e., `executable` target type)
 cat > "$TMPDIR/full_ut.d" <<EOF
 /+ dub.sdl:
 name "full_ut"