diff --git a/t/lib-httpd.sh b/t/lib-httpd.sh
index 094d490893..d773542680 100644
--- a/t/lib-httpd.sh
+++ b/t/lib-httpd.sh
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ TEST_PATH="$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-httpd
 HTTPD_ROOT_PATH="$PWD"/httpd
 HTTPD_DOCUMENT_ROOT_PATH=$HTTPD_ROOT_PATH/www
 
+# hack to suppress apache PassEnv warnings
+GIT_VALGRIND=$GIT_VALGRIND; export GIT_VALGRIND
+GIT_VALGRIND_OPTIONS=$GIT_VALGRIND_OPTIONS; export GIT_VALGRIND_OPTIONS
+
 if ! test -x "$LIB_HTTPD_PATH"
 then
 	skip_all="skipping test, no web server found at '$LIB_HTTPD_PATH'"
diff --git a/t/lib-httpd/apache.conf b/t/lib-httpd/apache.conf
index de3762e247..36b1596a10 100644
--- a/t/lib-httpd/apache.conf
+++ b/t/lib-httpd/apache.conf
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ ErrorLog error.log
 </IfModule>
 </IfVersion>
 
+PassEnv GIT_VALGRIND
+PassEnv GIT_VALGRIND_OPTIONS
+
 Alias /dumb/ www/
 Alias /auth/ www/auth/
 
@@ -62,7 +65,7 @@ ScriptAlias /smart/ ${GIT_EXEC_PATH}/git-http-backend/
 ScriptAlias /smart_noexport/ ${GIT_EXEC_PATH}/git-http-backend/
 ScriptAlias /smart_custom_env/ ${GIT_EXEC_PATH}/git-http-backend/
 <Directory ${GIT_EXEC_PATH}>
-	Options None
+	Options FollowSymlinks
 </Directory>
 <Files ${GIT_EXEC_PATH}/git-http-backend>
 	Options ExecCGI