diff --git a/compiler/test/dotty/tools/dotc/transform/PatmatExhaustivityTest.scala b/compiler/test/dotty/tools/dotc/transform/PatmatExhaustivityTest.scala
index a0c46c829d0d..7938a4e5af47 100644
--- a/compiler/test/dotty/tools/dotc/transform/PatmatExhaustivityTest.scala
+++ b/compiler/test/dotty/tools/dotc/transform/PatmatExhaustivityTest.scala
@@ -10,28 +10,25 @@ import reporting.TestReporter
 import dotty.tools.io.Directory
 
 import java.io._
-import java.nio.file.{Path => JPath}
+import java.nio.file.{Files, Path => JPath}
 
 import scala.io.Source._
 import org.junit.Test
 
-class PatmatDefaultExhaustivityTest extends PatmatExhaustivityTest {
-  override val testsDir = "tests/patmat-default"
-  override val options  = super.options.filter(_ != "-Ycheck-all-patmat")
-}
-
 class PatmatExhaustivityTest {
   val testsDir = "tests/patmat"
-  // stop-after: patmatexhaust-huge.scala crash compiler
-  def options = List("-pagewidth", "80", "-color:never", "-Ystop-after:explicitSelf", "-Ycheck-all-patmat", "-classpath", TestConfiguration.basicClasspath)
+  // pagewidth/color: for a stable diff as the defaults are based on the terminal (e.g size)
+  // stop-after: patmatexhaust-huge.scala crash compiler (but also hides other warnings..)
+  val options = List("-pagewidth", "80", "-color:never", "-Ystop-after:explicitSelf", "-classpath", TestConfiguration.basicClasspath)
 
-  private def compile(files: Seq[String]): Seq[String] = {
+  private def compile(files: List[JPath]): Seq[String] = {
+    val opts         = toolArgsFor(files)
     val stringBuffer = new StringWriter()
     val printWriter  = new PrintWriter(stringBuffer)
     val reporter = TestReporter.simplifiedReporter(printWriter)
 
     try {
-      Main.process((options ++ files).toArray, reporter, null)
+      Main.process((options ::: opts ::: files.map(_.toString)).toArray, reporter, null)
     } catch {
       case e: Throwable =>
         e.printStackTrace(printWriter)
@@ -44,7 +41,7 @@ class PatmatExhaustivityTest {
   }
 
   private def compileFile(path: JPath): Boolean = {
-    val actualLines   = compile(path.toString :: Nil)
+    val actualLines   = compile(List(path))
     val baseFilePath  = path.toString.stripSuffix(".scala")
     val checkFilePath = baseFilePath + ".check"
 
@@ -55,7 +52,7 @@ class PatmatExhaustivityTest {
   private def compileDir(path: JPath): Boolean = {
     val files = Directory(path).list.toList
       .filter(f => f.extension == "scala" || f.extension == "java" )
-      .map(_.jpath.toString)
+      .map(_.jpath)
 
     val actualLines   = compile(files)
     val checkFilePath = s"${path}${File.separator}expected.check"
@@ -67,12 +64,7 @@ class PatmatExhaustivityTest {
   def patmatExhaustivity: Unit = {
     val res = Directory(testsDir).list.toList
       .filter(f => f.extension == "scala" || f.isDirectory)
-      .map { f =>
-        if (f.isDirectory)
-          compileDir(f.jpath)
-        else
-          compileFile(f.jpath)
-      }
+      .map(f => if f.isDirectory then compileDir(f.jpath) else compileFile(f.jpath))
 
     val failed = res.filter(!_)
     val ignored = Directory(testsDir).list.toList.filter(_.extension == "ignore")
@@ -83,4 +75,22 @@ class PatmatExhaustivityTest {
 
     println(msg)
   }
+
+  // inspect given files for tool args of the form `tool: args`
+  // if args string ends in close comment, drop the `*` `/`
+  // if split, parse the args string as command line.
+  // (from scala.tools.partest.nest.Runner#toolArgsFor)
+  private def toolArgsFor(files: List[JPath]): List[String] = {
+    import scala.jdk.OptionConverters._
+    import config.CommandLineParser.tokenize
+    files.flatMap { path =>
+      val tag  = "scalac:"
+      val endc = "*" + "/"    // be forgiving of /* scalac: ... */
+      def stripped(s: String) = s.substring(s.indexOf(tag) + tag.length).stripSuffix(endc)
+      val args = scala.util.Using.resource(Files.lines(path, scala.io.Codec.UTF8.charSet))(
+        _.limit(10).filter(_.contains(tag)).map(stripped).findAny.toScala
+      )
+      args.map(tokenize).getOrElse(Nil)
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/tests/patmat/i10174b.check b/tests/patmat/i10174b.check
index a8e6f96b4bac..582ce090b23d 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/i10174b.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/i10174b.check
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-2: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Int
-58: Match case Unreachable
+3: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Int
+59: Match case Unreachable
diff --git a/tests/patmat/i10174b.scala b/tests/patmat/i10174b.scala
index f227f68c909b..875e19e8f037 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/i10174b.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/i10174b.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 def foo(x: Int): Unit =
     x match {
       case 1 =>
@@ -1001,4 +1002,4 @@ def foo(x: Int): Unit =
       case 998 =>
       case 999 =>
       case 1000 =>
-    }
\ No newline at end of file
+    }
diff --git a/tests/patmat-default/i12485.scala b/tests/patmat/i12485.scala
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/patmat-default/i12485.scala
rename to tests/patmat/i12485.scala
diff --git a/tests/patmat-default/i13003.check b/tests/patmat/i13003.check
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/patmat-default/i13003.check
rename to tests/patmat/i13003.check
diff --git a/tests/patmat-default/i13003.scala b/tests/patmat/i13003.scala
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/patmat-default/i13003.scala
rename to tests/patmat/i13003.scala
diff --git a/tests/patmat/i6197d.check b/tests/patmat/i6197d.check
index 1f4a130c3f86..cb1b11d4b326 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/i6197d.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/i6197d.check
@@ -1 +1 @@
-5: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Array[String]
+6: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Array[String]
diff --git a/tests/patmat/i6197d.scala b/tests/patmat/i6197d.scala
index 247a5f12020d..419c6e7ec2fa 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/i6197d.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/i6197d.scala
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 def foo(x: Array[String]) = x match {
   case _: Array[_] =>
 }
 
 def bar(x: Array[String]) = x match {
   case _: Array[_ <: Int] =>
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/tests/patmat/i6255b.check b/tests/patmat/i6255b.check
index 582d2e65bc51..265ec9fa9c4b 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/i6255b.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/i6255b.check
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Expr[Int]
+3: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Expr[Int]
diff --git a/tests/patmat/i6255b.scala b/tests/patmat/i6255b.scala
index a5c52c8f28dc..02fba4ad9100 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/i6255b.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/i6255b.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 class Foo {
   def foo(x: quoted.Expr[Int])(using scala.quoted.Quotes): Unit = x match {
     case '{ 1 } =>
diff --git a/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.check b/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.check
index 4f0ec4dd99df..7689dd60d8bf 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.check
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-9: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Nil
-23: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: true, false
-27: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Int
+10: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Nil
+24: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: true, false
+28: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Int
diff --git a/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.scala b/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.scala
index a2b18e7fb1f8..f62d704f8ca0 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/patmat-indent.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 object Test {
   val Nil: scala.collection.immutable.Nil.type = scala.collection.immutable.Nil
   val X = 5
@@ -27,4 +28,4 @@ object Test {
   def foo3(x: Int) = x match {
     case X => 0
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t10502.check b/tests/patmat/t10502.check
index b92e0d7cae8a..11be4c628b63 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t10502.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/t10502.check
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-5: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Perhaps(None)
-15: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Nil
-31: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Multi(None, _)
-44: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Prod(None, _)
+6: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Perhaps(None)
+16: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Nil
+32: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Multi(None, _)
+45: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: Prod(None, _)
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t10502.scala b/tests/patmat/t10502.scala
index adf6b4df49fa..71066fdb7ae8 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t10502.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/t10502.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 object Perhaps {
 
   def unapply[A](oa: Option[A]): Some[Option[A]] = Some(oa)
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t3163.check b/tests/patmat/t3163.check
index 51c58f9e3fe8..15f00dbfcebe 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t3163.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/t3163.check
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: AnyVal
+3: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: AnyVal
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t3163.scala b/tests/patmat/t3163.scala
index 2e0f2c1d9482..19aa6fe93ca8 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t3163.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/t3163.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 object Test {
   def foo(x : AnyVal) = x match {case b : Boolean => "It's a bool"}
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t4526.check b/tests/patmat/t4526.check
index ac3ef01bcc23..17e8200e9b1d 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t4526.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/t4526.check
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-2: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Int
-7: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
-12: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (true, true), (false, false)
+3: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: Int
+8: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
+13: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (true, true), (false, false)
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t4526.scala b/tests/patmat/t4526.scala
index d531c6b34304..016f3782b65b 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t4526.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/t4526.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 object Test{
   def foo(a: Int) = a match {
     case 5  => "Five!"
@@ -13,4 +14,4 @@ object Test{
     case (true, false)  => "tf"
     case (false, true) =>  "ft"
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t4661b.check b/tests/patmat/t4661b.check
index 50b0c4da452e..d19d4c6db744 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t4661b.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/t4661b.check
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-10: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: c.Foo
-13: Match case Unreachable
+11: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: c.Foo
+14: Match case Unreachable
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t4661b.scala b/tests/patmat/t4661b.scala
index ee95ff08ca07..f2329020cb66 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t4661b.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/t4661b.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 class C {
   trait Foo
   class One extends Foo
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t9351.check b/tests/patmat/t9351.check
index 379adffd5a61..b5baf54469fc 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t9351.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/t9351.check
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-8: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: A
-17: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
-28: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
+9: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: _: A
+18: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
+29: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t9351.scala b/tests/patmat/t9351.scala
index 9b9bd4312ae7..b43fa948ce87 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t9351.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/t9351.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 trait A {}
 case object B extends A {}
 case object C extends A {}
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t9809.check b/tests/patmat/t9809.check
index ff3fb4c63f64..6baed9fb58f0 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t9809.check
+++ b/tests/patmat/t9809.check
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-3: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
-7: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
+4: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
+8: Pattern Match Exhaustivity: (_, _)
diff --git a/tests/patmat/t9809.scala b/tests/patmat/t9809.scala
index 45d4946cdbe4..72ff23b11e51 100644
--- a/tests/patmat/t9809.scala
+++ b/tests/patmat/t9809.scala
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// scalac: -Ycheck-all-patmat
 object Example {
   val op1: (Any, Any) => Unit = {
     case (_, b: Int) =>