diff --git a/tests/Makefile.am b/tests/Makefile.am
index b8181b62e2..aceb5d33ba 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.am
+++ b/tests/Makefile.am
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-TESTS_ENVIRONMENT = $(SHELL) -e
+TESTS_ENVIRONMENT = $(bash) -e
 
 extra1 = $(shell pwd)/test-tmp/shared
 
diff --git a/tests/common.sh.in b/tests/common.sh.in
index 37dce260f5..85dd3a3890 100644
--- a/tests/common.sh.in
+++ b/tests/common.sh.in
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ export dot=@dot@
 export xmllint="@xmllint@"
 export xmlflags="@xmlflags@"
 export xsltproc="@xsltproc@"
+export SHELL="@shell@"
 
 # Hack to get "atdiff" to run on Cygwin (Windows looks for
 # DLLs in $PATH).