diff --git a/mk/run_test.sh b/mk/run_test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..6af5b070a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mk/run_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+set -u
+
+red=""
+green=""
+yellow=""
+normal=""
+
+post_run_msg="ran test $1..."
+if [ -t 1 ]; then
+    red=""
+    green=""
+    yellow=""
+    normal=""
+fi
+(cd $(dirname $1) && env ${TESTS_ENVIRONMENT} init.sh 2>/dev/null > /dev/null)
+log="$(cd $(dirname $1) && env ${TESTS_ENVIRONMENT} $(basename $1) 2>&1)"
+status=$?
+if [ $status -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo "$post_run_msg [${green}PASS$normal]"
+elif [ $status -eq 99 ]; then
+  echo "$post_run_msg [${yellow}SKIP$normal]"
+else
+  echo "$post_run_msg [${red}FAIL$normal]"
+  echo "$log" | sed 's/^/    /'
+  exit "$status"
+fi
diff --git a/mk/tests.mk b/mk/tests.mk
index 70c30661b..c1e140bac 100644
--- a/mk/tests.mk
+++ b/mk/tests.mk
@@ -1,45 +1,15 @@
 # Run program $1 as part of ‘make installcheck’.
+
+test-deps =
+
 define run-install-test
 
-  installcheck: $1
+  installcheck: $1.test
 
-  _installcheck-list += $1
+  .PHONY: $1.test
+  $1.test: $1 $(test-deps)
+	@env TEST_NAME=$(notdir $(basename $1)) TESTS_ENVIRONMENT="$(tests-environment)" mk/run_test.sh $1 < /dev/null
 
 endef
 
-# Color code from https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/10065
-installcheck:
-	@total=0; failed=0; \
-	red=""; \
-	green=""; \
-	yellow=""; \
-	normal=""; \
-	if [ -t 1 ]; then \
-		red=""; \
-		green=""; \
-		yellow=""; \
-		normal=""; \
-	fi; \
-	for i in $(_installcheck-list); do \
-	  total=$$((total + 1)); \
-	  printf "running test $$i..."; \
-	  log="$$(cd $$(dirname $$i) && $(tests-environment) $$(basename $$i) 2>&1)"; \
-	  status=$$?; \
-	  if [ $$status -eq 0 ]; then \
-	    echo " [$${green}PASS$$normal]"; \
-	  elif [ $$status -eq 99 ]; then \
-	    echo " [$${yellow}SKIP$$normal]"; \
-	  else \
-	    echo " [$${red}FAIL$$normal]"; \
-	    echo "$$log" | sed 's/^/    /'; \
-	    failed=$$((failed + 1)); \
-	  fi; \
-	done; \
-	if [ "$$failed" != 0 ]; then \
-	  echo "$${red}$$failed out of $$total tests failed $$normal"; \
-	  exit 1; \
-	else \
-		echo "$${green}All tests succeeded$$normal"; \
-	fi
-
 .PHONY: check installcheck
diff --git a/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc b/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
index 1ebc80976..0bb963121 100755
--- a/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
+++ b/src/nix-build/nix-build.cc
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ static void _main(int argc, char * * argv)
     // Heuristic to see if we're invoked as a shebang script, namely,
     // if we have at least one argument, it's the name of an
     // executable file, and it starts with "#!".
-    if (runEnv && argc > 1 && !std::regex_search(argv[1], std::regex("nix-shell"))) {
+    if (runEnv && argc > 1) {
         script = argv[1];
         try {
             auto lines = tokenizeString<Strings>(readFile(script), "\n");
diff --git a/tests/common.sh.in b/tests/common.sh.in
index 15d7b1ef9..e8233bf72 100644
--- a/tests/common.sh.in
+++ b/tests/common.sh.in
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 set -e
 
-export TEST_ROOT=$(realpath ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nix-test)
+export TEST_ROOT=$(realpath ${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/nix-test)/${TEST_NAME:-default}
 export NIX_STORE_DIR
 if ! NIX_STORE_DIR=$(readlink -f $TEST_ROOT/store 2> /dev/null); then
     # Maybe the build directory is symlinked.
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ export NIX_LOCALSTATE_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/var
 export NIX_LOG_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/var/log/nix
 export NIX_STATE_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/var/nix
 export NIX_CONF_DIR=$TEST_ROOT/etc
+export NIX_DAEMON_SOCKET_PATH=$TEST_ROOT/daemon-socket
 export _NIX_TEST_SHARED=$TEST_ROOT/shared
 if [[ -n $NIX_STORE ]]; then
     export _NIX_TEST_NO_SANDBOX=1
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ startDaemon() {
     rm -f $NIX_STATE_DIR/daemon-socket/socket
     nix-daemon &
     for ((i = 0; i < 30; i++)); do
-        if [ -e $NIX_STATE_DIR/daemon-socket/socket ]; then break; fi
+        if [ -e $NIX_DAEMON_SOCKET_PATH ]; then break; fi
         sleep 1
     done
     pidDaemon=$!
diff --git a/tests/local.mk b/tests/local.mk
index 4c087ae39..83e93b123 100644
--- a/tests/local.mk
+++ b/tests/local.mk
@@ -40,4 +40,4 @@ tests-environment = NIX_REMOTE= $(bash) -e
 
 clean-files += $(d)/common.sh
 
-installcheck: $(d)/common.sh $(d)/plugins/libplugintest.$(SO_EXT)
+test-deps += tests/common.sh tests/plugins/libplugintest.$(SO_EXT)