diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 016fdcdb81..21b3978744 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2591,6 +2591,7 @@ GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS: FORCE
 	@echo NO_UNIX_SOCKETS=\''$(subst ','\'',$(subst ','\'',$(NO_UNIX_SOCKETS)))'\' >>$@+
 	@echo PAGER_ENV=\''$(subst ','\'',$(subst ','\'',$(PAGER_ENV)))'\' >>$@+
 	@echo DC_SHA1=\''$(subst ','\'',$(subst ','\'',$(DC_SHA1)))'\' >>$@+
+	@echo X=\'$(X)\' >>$@+
 ifdef TEST_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY
 	@echo TEST_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY=\''$(subst ','\'',$(subst ','\'',$(TEST_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY)))'\' >>$@+
 endif
diff --git a/t/test-lib-functions.sh b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
index 3472716651..274cbc2d6e 100644
--- a/t/test-lib-functions.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib-functions.sh
@@ -923,7 +923,7 @@ test_create_repo () {
 	mkdir -p "$repo"
 	(
 		cd "$repo" || error "Cannot setup test environment"
-		"${GIT_TEST_INSTALLED:-$GIT_EXEC_PATH}/git" init \
+		"${GIT_TEST_INSTALLED:-$GIT_EXEC_PATH}/git$X" init \
 			"--template=$GIT_BUILD_DIR/templates/blt/" >&3 2>&4 ||
 		error "cannot run git init -- have you built things yet?"
 		mv .git/hooks .git/hooks-disabled
diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index 3d3a65ed0e..e12addc324 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -49,9 +49,17 @@ export ASAN_OPTIONS
 : ${LSAN_OPTIONS=abort_on_error=1}
 export LSAN_OPTIONS
 
+if test ! -f "$GIT_BUILD_DIR"/GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS
+then
+	echo >&2 'error: GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS missing (has Git been built?).'
+	exit 1
+fi
+. "$GIT_BUILD_DIR"/GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS
+export PERL_PATH SHELL_PATH
+
 ################################################################
 # It appears that people try to run tests without building...
-"${GIT_TEST_INSTALLED:-$GIT_BUILD_DIR}/git" >/dev/null
+"${GIT_TEST_INSTALLED:-$GIT_BUILD_DIR}/git$X" >/dev/null
 if test $? != 1
 then
 	if test -n "$GIT_TEST_INSTALLED"
@@ -63,9 +71,6 @@ then
 	exit 1
 fi
 
-. "$GIT_BUILD_DIR"/GIT-BUILD-OPTIONS
-export PERL_PATH SHELL_PATH
-
 # if --tee was passed, write the output not only to the terminal, but
 # additionally to the file test-results/$BASENAME.out, too.
 case "$GIT_TEST_TEE_STARTED, $* " in