diff --git a/subdir-rules.mk b/subdir-rules.mk
index c6b21fd07..4926c9c7e 100644
--- a/subdir-rules.mk
+++ b/subdir-rules.mk
@@ -87,3 +87,8 @@ if HAVE_OCAMLOPT
 .ml.cmx:
 	$(guestfs_am_v_ocamlopt)$(OCAMLFIND) ocamlopt $(OCAMLFLAGS) $(OCAMLPACKAGES) -c $< -o $@
 endif
+
+# Test shell scripts should use '$TEST_FUNCTIONS' to get a predefined
+# set of helper functions for running tests (see
+# tests/test-functions.sh).
+export TEST_FUNCTIONS := source $(abs_top_srcdir)/tests/test-functions.sh
diff --git a/tests/qemu/qemu-liveness.sh b/tests/qemu/qemu-liveness.sh
index 6f59da72a..c9b79f06b 100755
--- a/tests/qemu/qemu-liveness.sh
+++ b/tests/qemu/qemu-liveness.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 set -e
 
-. $srcdir/../../tests/test-functions.sh
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
 
 rm -f liveness1.img
 
diff --git a/tests/qemu/qemu-snapshot-isolation.sh b/tests/qemu/qemu-snapshot-isolation.sh
index e06232880..d72ff9fd5 100755
--- a/tests/qemu/qemu-snapshot-isolation.sh
+++ b/tests/qemu/qemu-snapshot-isolation.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 set -e
 
-. $srcdir/../../tests/test-functions.sh
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
 
 # UML backend doesn't support qcow2 format.
 supports_qcow2=yes
diff --git a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-formats.sh b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-formats.sh
index 4c60de2ae..d49b7be58 100755
--- a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-formats.sh
+++ b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-formats.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ unset CDPATH
 export LANG=C
 set -e
 
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
+
 formats="zip tar-gz tar-xz"
 
 if [ -n "$SKIP_TEST_V2V_I_OVA_FORMATS_SH" ]; then
@@ -46,8 +48,6 @@ fi
 
 export VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virt-tools"
 
-. $srcdir/../tests/test-functions.sh
-
 d=test-v2v-i-ova-formats.d
 rm -rf $d
 mkdir $d
diff --git a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-gz.sh b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-gz.sh
index 33a98f30b..e292683e3 100755
--- a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-gz.sh
+++ b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-gz.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ unset CDPATH
 export LANG=C
 set -e
 
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
+
 if [ -n "$SKIP_TEST_V2V_I_OVA_GZ_SH" ]; then
     echo "$0: test skipped because environment variable is set"
     exit 77
@@ -34,8 +36,6 @@ fi
 
 export VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virt-tools"
 
-. $srcdir/../tests/test-functions.sh
-
 d=test-v2v-i-ova-gz.d
 rm -rf $d
 mkdir $d
diff --git a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-subfolders.sh b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-subfolders.sh
index d1e12f99a..ea3352ccd 100755
--- a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-subfolders.sh
+++ b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-subfolders.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ unset CDPATH
 export LANG=C
 set -e
 
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
+
 if [ -n "$SKIP_TEST_V2V_I_OVA_SUBFOLDERS_SH" ]; then
     echo "$0: test skipped because environment variable is set"
     exit 77
@@ -34,8 +36,6 @@ fi
 
 export VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virt-tools"
 
-. $srcdir/../tests/test-functions.sh
-
 d=test-v2v-i-ova-subfolders.d
 rm -rf $d
 mkdir -p $d/subfolder
diff --git a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-tar.sh b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-tar.sh
index dc3838bc2..2d1389d1e 100755
--- a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-tar.sh
+++ b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-tar.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ unset CDPATH
 export LANG=C
 set -e
 
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
+
 if [ -n "$SKIP_TEST_V2V_I_OVA_FORMATS_SH" ]; then
     echo "$0: test skipped because environment variable is set"
     exit 77
@@ -34,8 +36,6 @@ fi
 
 export VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virt-tools"
 
-. $srcdir/../tests/test-functions.sh
-
 d=test-v2v-i-ova-tar.d
 rm -rf $d
 mkdir $d
diff --git a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-two-disks.sh b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-two-disks.sh
index bbc2df0ae..86584c39c 100755
--- a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-two-disks.sh
+++ b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova-two-disks.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ unset CDPATH
 export LANG=C
 set -e
 
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
+
 if [ -n "$SKIP_TEST_V2V_I_OVA_TWO_DISKS_SH" ]; then
     echo "$0: test skipped because environment variable is set"
     exit 77
@@ -35,8 +37,6 @@ fi
 export VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virt-tools"
 export VIRTIO_WIN="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virtio-win"
 
-. $srcdir/../tests/test-functions.sh
-
 d=test-v2v-i-ova-two-disks.d
 rm -rf $d
 mkdir $d
diff --git a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova.sh b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova.sh
index 3f426c4ef..4b97a1a89 100755
--- a/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova.sh
+++ b/v2v/test-v2v-i-ova.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ unset CDPATH
 export LANG=C
 set -e
 
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
+
 if [ -n "$SKIP_TEST_V2V_I_OVA_SH" ]; then
     echo "$0: test skipped because environment variable is set"
     exit 77
@@ -48,8 +50,6 @@ fi
 export VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virt-tools"
 export VIRTIO_WIN="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virtio-win"
 
-. $srcdir/../tests/test-functions.sh
-
 d=test-v2v-i-ova.d
 rm -rf $d
 mkdir $d
diff --git a/v2v/test-v2v-in-place.sh b/v2v/test-v2v-in-place.sh
index c49b9b526..c8b2ec490 100755
--- a/v2v/test-v2v-in-place.sh
+++ b/v2v/test-v2v-in-place.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ unset CDPATH
 export LANG=C
 set -e
 
+$TEST_FUNCTIONS
+
 if [ -n "$SKIP_TEST_V2V_IN_PLACE_SH" ]; then
     echo "$0: test skipped because environment variable is set"
     exit 77
@@ -44,8 +46,6 @@ fi
 export VIRT_TOOLS_DATA_DIR="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virt-tools"
 export VIRTIO_WIN="$srcdir/../test-data/fake-virtio-win"
 
-. $srcdir/../tests/test-functions.sh
-
 d=$PWD/test-v2v-in-place.d
 rm -rf $d
 mkdir $d