diff --git a/tests/abandon.sh b/tests/abandon.sh
index e59d309e32..93afd62a43 100755
--- a/tests/abandon.sh
+++ b/tests/abandon.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ setup_gitsvn
   # Verify that "status" doesn't know about it anymore.
   # The "exit" trickiness is inverting the exit status of grep.
   test_expect_success "git-cl status dropped abandoned branch" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q abandoned && exit 1 || exit 0"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q abandoned && exit 1 || exit 0"
 )
 
 SUCCESS=$?
diff --git a/tests/basic.sh b/tests/basic.sh
index edf1cb8d7d..8b7f64b2fc 100755
--- a/tests/basic.sh
+++ b/tests/basic.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ setup_gitsvn
   git config rietveld.server localhost:8080
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status has no issue" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'no issue'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'no issue'"
 
   # Prevent the editor from coming up when you upload.
   export GIT_EDITOR=$(which true)
@@ -35,10 +35,10 @@ setup_gitsvn
     "$GIT_CL upload -m test master | grep -q 'Issue created'"
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status now knows the issue" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'Issue number'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'Issue number'"
 
   # Push a description to this URL.
-  URL=$($GIT_CL status | sed -ne '/Issue number/s/[^(]*(\(.*\))/\1/p')
+  URL=$($GIT_CL_STATUS | sed -ne '/Issue number/s/[^(]*(\(.*\))/\1/p')
   curl --cookie dev_appserver_login="test@example.com:False" \
        --data-urlencode subject="test" \
        --data-urlencode description="foo-quux" \
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ setup_gitsvn
       "git show | grep -q 'foo-quux'"
 
   test_expect_success "issue no longer has a branch" \
-      "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'work: None'"
+      "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'work: None'"
 
   test_expect_success "upstream svn has our commit" \
       "svn log $REPO_URL 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'foo-quux'"
diff --git a/tests/owners.sh b/tests/owners.sh
index baa7dd9b0a..70f76a1a95 100755
--- a/tests/owners.sh
+++ b/tests/owners.sh
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ END
     "$GIT_CL upload -m test master | grep -q 'Issue created'"
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status has a suggested reviewer" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'R=ben@chromium.org'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'R=ben@chromium.org'"
 
   test_expect_failure "git-cl dcommit fails w/ missing LGTM" \
     "$GIT_CL dcommit -f"
diff --git a/tests/patch.sh b/tests/patch.sh
index 6a70b0eeae..038e4d5c8c 100755
--- a/tests/patch.sh
+++ b/tests/patch.sh
@@ -27,9 +27,9 @@ setup_gitsvn
     "$GIT_CL upload -m test master | grep -q 'Issue created'"
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status now knows the issue" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'Issue number'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'Issue number'"
 
-  ISSUE=$($GIT_CL status | awk '$0 ~ "Issue number:" { print $3 }')
+  ISSUE=$($GIT_CL_STATUS | awk '$0 ~ "Issue number:" { print $3 }')
 
   git checkout -q -b test2 master
 
diff --git a/tests/push-basic.sh b/tests/push-basic.sh
index 1c3c696e63..6b255bcbf9 100755
--- a/tests/push-basic.sh
+++ b/tests/push-basic.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ setup_gitgit
   git config rietveld.server localhost:8080
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status has no issue" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'no issue'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'no issue'"
 
   # Prevent the editor from coming up when you upload.
   export GIT_EDITOR=$(which true)
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@ setup_gitgit
     "$GIT_CL upload -m test master | grep -q 'Issue created'"
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status now knows the issue" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'Issue number'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'Issue number'"
 
   # Push a description to this URL.
-  URL=$($GIT_CL status | sed -ne '/Issue number/s/[^(]*(\(.*\))/\1/p')
+  URL=$($GIT_CL_STATUS | sed -ne '/Issue number/s/[^(]*(\(.*\))/\1/p')
   curl --cookie dev_appserver_login="test@example.com:False" \
        --data-urlencode subject="test" \
        --data-urlencode description="foo-quux" \
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ setup_gitgit
        $URL/edit
 
   test_expect_success "Base URL contains branch name" \
-      "curl -s $($GIT_CL status --field=url) | grep 'URL:' | grep -q '@master'"
+      "curl -s $($GIT_CL_STATUS --field=url) | grep 'URL:' | grep -q '@master'"
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl push ok" \
     "$GIT_CL push -f"
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ setup_gitgit
       "git show | grep -q 'foo-quux'"
 
   test_expect_success "issue no longer has a branch" \
-      "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'work: None'"
+      "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'work: None'"
 
   cd $GITREPO_PATH
   test_expect_success "upstream repo has our commit" \
diff --git a/tests/push-from-logs.sh b/tests/push-from-logs.sh
index e68b3d2464..aba4cb242f 100755
--- a/tests/push-from-logs.sh
+++ b/tests/push-from-logs.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ setup_gitgit
   git config rietveld.server localhost:8080
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status has no issue" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'no issue'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'no issue'"
 
   # Prevent the editor from coming up when you upload.
   export EDITOR=$(which true)
@@ -35,15 +35,15 @@ setup_gitgit
       grep -q 'Issue created'"
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl status now knows the issue" \
-      "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'Issue number'"
+      "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'Issue number'"
 
   # Check to see if the description contains the local commit messages.
   # Should contain 'branch work' x 2.
   test_expect_success "git-cl status has the right description for the log" \
-      "$GIT_CL status --field desc | [ $( egrep -q '^branch work$' -c ) -eq 2 ]
+      "$GIT_CL_STATUS --field desc | [ $( egrep -q '^branch work$' -c ) -eq 2 ]
   
   test_expect_success "git-cl status has the right subject from message" \
-      "$GIT_CL status --field desc | \
+      "$GIT_CL_STATUS --field desc | \
       [ $( egrep -q '^test$' --byte-offset) | grep '^0:' ]
 
   test_expect_success "git-cl push ok" \
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ setup_gitgit
       "git show | [ $( egrep -q '^branch work$' -c ) -eq 2 ]
 
   test_expect_success "issue no longer has a branch" \
-      "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'work: None'"
+      "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'work: None'"
 
   cd $GITREPO_PATH
   test_expect_success "upstream repo has our commit" \
diff --git a/tests/test-lib.sh b/tests/test-lib.sh
index 4ce05cf820..ad07818043 100755
--- a/tests/test-lib.sh
+++ b/tests/test-lib.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ TRUNK_URL=$REPO_URL/trunk
 BRANCH_URL=$REPO_URL/branches/some_branch
 GITREPO_PATH=$PWD/gitrepo
 GITREPO_URL=file://$GITREPO_PATH
+PATH="$PWD/..:$PATH"
 GIT_CL=$PWD/../git-cl
+GIT_CL_STATUS="$GIT_CL status -f"
 
 # Set up an SVN repo that has a few commits to trunk.
 setup_initsvn() {
diff --git a/tests/upload-stale.sh b/tests/upload-stale.sh
index 0ec8b3ef33..6fc8197bfd 100755
--- a/tests/upload-stale.sh
+++ b/tests/upload-stale.sh
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ setup_gitgit
     "$GIT_CL upload -m test | grep -q 'Issue created'"
 
   test_expect_failure "description shouldn't contain unrelated commits" \
-    "$GIT_CL status | grep -q 'second commit'"
+    "$GIT_CL_STATUS | grep -q 'second commit'"
 )
 SUCCESS=$?