diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0285db5630..cf504963c2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -794,6 +794,7 @@ TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-dump-split-index.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-dump-untracked-cache.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-env-helper.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-example-decorate.o
+TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-example-tap.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-find-pack.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-fsmonitor-client.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-genrandom.o
@@ -1333,7 +1334,6 @@ THIRD_PARTY_SOURCES += compat/regex/%
 THIRD_PARTY_SOURCES += sha1collisiondetection/%
 THIRD_PARTY_SOURCES += sha1dc/%
 
-UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-basic
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-mem-pool
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-strbuf
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS += t-ctype
@@ -3235,7 +3235,7 @@ perf: all
 
 .PRECIOUS: $(TEST_OBJS)
 
-t/helper/test-tool$X: $(patsubst %,t/helper/%,$(TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS))
+t/helper/test-tool$X: $(patsubst %,t/helper/%,$(TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS)) $(UNIT_TEST_DIR)/test-lib.o
 
 t/helper/test-%$X: t/helper/test-%.o GIT-LDFLAGS $(GITLIBS) $(REFTABLE_TEST_LIB)
 	$(QUIET_LINK)$(CC) $(ALL_CFLAGS) -o $@ $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $(filter %.o,$^) $(filter %.a,$^) $(LIBS)
@@ -3888,5 +3888,5 @@ $(UNIT_TEST_PROGS): $(UNIT_TEST_BIN)/%$X: $(UNIT_TEST_DIR)/%.o $(UNIT_TEST_DIR)/
 
 .PHONY: build-unit-tests unit-tests
 build-unit-tests: $(UNIT_TEST_PROGS)
-unit-tests: $(UNIT_TEST_PROGS)
+unit-tests: $(UNIT_TEST_PROGS) t/helper/test-tool$X
 	$(MAKE) -C t/ unit-tests
diff --git a/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh b/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh
index c192bd613c..98dda42045 100755
--- a/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh
+++ b/ci/run-build-and-tests.sh
@@ -53,8 +53,6 @@ if test -n "$run_tests"
 then
 	group "Run tests" make test ||
 	handle_failed_tests
-	group "Run unit tests" \
-		make DEFAULT_UNIT_TEST_TARGET=unit-tests-prove unit-tests
 fi
 check_unignored_build_artifacts
 
diff --git a/ci/run-test-slice.sh b/ci/run-test-slice.sh
index ae8094382f..e167e646f7 100755
--- a/ci/run-test-slice.sh
+++ b/ci/run-test-slice.sh
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ handle_failed_tests
 
 # We only have one unit test at the moment, so run it in the first slice
 if [ "$1" == "0" ] ; then
-	group "Run unit tests" make --quiet -C t unit-tests-prove
+	group "Run unit tests" make --quiet -C t unit-tests-test-tool
 fi
 
 check_unignored_build_artifacts
diff --git a/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt b/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt
index 804629c525..2f9c33585c 100644
--- a/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/contrib/buildsystems/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1005,10 +1005,11 @@ endforeach()
 
 #test-tool
 parse_makefile_for_sources(test-tool_SOURCES "TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS")
+add_library(test-lib OBJECT ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/t/unit-tests/test-lib.c)
 
 list(TRANSFORM test-tool_SOURCES PREPEND "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/t/helper/")
 add_executable(test-tool ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/t/helper/test-tool.c ${test-tool_SOURCES} ${test-reftable_SOURCES})
-target_link_libraries(test-tool common-main)
+target_link_libraries(test-tool test-lib common-main)
 
 set_target_properties(test-fake-ssh test-tool
 			PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/t/helper)
diff --git a/t/Makefile b/t/Makefile
index 2d95046f26..b2eb9f770b 100644
--- a/t/Makefile
+++ b/t/Makefile
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ CHAINLINTTESTS = $(sort $(patsubst chainlint/%.test,%,$(wildcard chainlint/*.tes
 CHAINLINT = '$(PERL_PATH_SQ)' chainlint.pl
 UNIT_TEST_SOURCES = $(wildcard unit-tests/t-*.c)
 UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS = $(patsubst unit-tests/%.c,unit-tests/bin/%$(X),$(UNIT_TEST_SOURCES))
-UNIT_TESTS = $(sort $(filter-out unit-tests/bin/t-basic%,$(UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS)))
+UNIT_TESTS = $(sort $(UNIT_TEST_PROGRAMS))
+UNIT_TESTS_NO_DIR = $(notdir $(UNIT_TESTS))
 
 # `test-chainlint` (which is a dependency of `test-lint`, `test` and `prove`)
 # checks all tests in all scripts via a single invocation, so tell individual
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ failed:
 	test -z "$$failed" || $(MAKE) $$failed
 
 prove: pre-clean check-chainlint $(TEST_LINT)
-	@echo "*** prove ***"; $(CHAINLINTSUPPRESS) $(PROVE) --exec '$(TEST_SHELL_PATH_SQ)' $(GIT_PROVE_OPTS) $(T) :: $(GIT_TEST_OPTS)
+	@echo "*** prove (shell & unit tests) ***"; $(CHAINLINTSUPPRESS) TEST_SHELL_PATH='$(TEST_SHELL_PATH_SQ)' $(PROVE) --exec ./run-test.sh $(GIT_PROVE_OPTS) $(T) $(UNIT_TESTS) :: $(GIT_TEST_OPTS)
 	$(MAKE) clean-except-prove-cache
 
 $(T):
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ $(T):
 $(UNIT_TESTS):
 	@echo "*** $@ ***"; $@
 
-.PHONY: unit-tests unit-tests-raw unit-tests-prove
+.PHONY: unit-tests unit-tests-raw unit-tests-prove unit-tests-test-tool
 unit-tests: $(DEFAULT_UNIT_TEST_TARGET)
 
 unit-tests-raw: $(UNIT_TESTS)
@@ -84,6 +85,13 @@ unit-tests-raw: $(UNIT_TESTS)
 unit-tests-prove:
 	@echo "*** prove - unit tests ***"; $(PROVE) $(GIT_PROVE_OPTS) $(UNIT_TESTS)
 
+unit-tests-test-tool:
+	@echo "*** test-tool - unit tests **"
+	( \
+		cd unit-tests/bin && \
+		../../helper/test-tool$X run-command testsuite $(UNIT_TESTS_NO_DIR)\
+	)
+
 pre-clean:
 	$(RM) -r '$(TEST_RESULTS_DIRECTORY_SQ)'
 
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/t-basic.c b/t/helper/test-example-tap.c
similarity index 95%
rename from t/unit-tests/t-basic.c
rename to t/helper/test-example-tap.c
index fda1ae59a6..d072ad559f 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/t-basic.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-example-tap.c
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-#include "test-lib.h"
+#include "test-tool.h"
+#include "t/unit-tests/test-lib.h"
 
 /*
  * The purpose of this "unit test" is to verify a few invariants of the unit
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ static void t_empty(void)
 	; /* empty */
 }
 
-int cmd_main(int argc, const char **argv)
+int cmd__example_tap(int argc, const char **argv)
 {
 	test_res = TEST(check_res = check_int(1, ==, 1), "passing test");
 	TEST(t_res(1), "passing test and assertion return 1");
diff --git a/t/helper/test-run-command.c b/t/helper/test-run-command.c
index c0ed8722c8..61eb1175fe 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-run-command.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-run-command.c
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ struct testsuite {
 	struct string_list tests, failed;
 	int next;
 	int quiet, immediate, verbose, verbose_log, trace, write_junit_xml;
+	const char *shell_path;
 };
 #define TESTSUITE_INIT { \
 	.tests = STRING_LIST_INIT_DUP, \
@@ -80,7 +81,9 @@ static int next_test(struct child_process *cp, struct strbuf *err, void *cb,
 		return 0;
 
 	test = suite->tests.items[suite->next++].string;
-	strvec_pushl(&cp->args, "sh", test, NULL);
+	if (suite->shell_path)
+		strvec_push(&cp->args, suite->shell_path);
+	strvec_push(&cp->args, test);
 	if (suite->quiet)
 		strvec_push(&cp->args, "--quiet");
 	if (suite->immediate)
@@ -155,6 +158,8 @@ static int testsuite(int argc, const char **argv)
 		.task_finished = test_finished,
 		.data = &suite,
 	};
+	struct strbuf progpath = STRBUF_INIT;
+	size_t path_prefix_len;
 
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, NULL, options,
 			testsuite_usage, PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);
@@ -162,26 +167,36 @@ static int testsuite(int argc, const char **argv)
 	if (max_jobs <= 0)
 		max_jobs = online_cpus();
 
+	/*
+	 * If we run without a shell, execute the programs directly from CWD.
+	 */
+	suite.shell_path = getenv("TEST_SHELL_PATH");
+	if (!suite.shell_path)
+		strbuf_addstr(&progpath, "./");
+	path_prefix_len = progpath.len;
+
 	dir = opendir(".");
 	if (!dir)
 		die("Could not open the current directory");
 	while ((d = readdir(dir))) {
 		const char *p = d->d_name;
 
-		if (*p != 't' || !isdigit(p[1]) || !isdigit(p[2]) ||
-		    !isdigit(p[3]) || !isdigit(p[4]) || p[5] != '-' ||
-		    !ends_with(p, ".sh"))
+		if (!strcmp(p, ".") || !strcmp(p, ".."))
 			continue;
 
 		/* No pattern: match all */
 		if (!argc) {
-			string_list_append(&suite.tests, p);
+			strbuf_setlen(&progpath, path_prefix_len);
+			strbuf_addstr(&progpath, p);
+			string_list_append(&suite.tests, progpath.buf);
 			continue;
 		}
 
 		for (i = 0; i < argc; i++)
 			if (!wildmatch(argv[i], p, 0)) {
-				string_list_append(&suite.tests, p);
+				strbuf_setlen(&progpath, path_prefix_len);
+				strbuf_addstr(&progpath, p);
+				string_list_append(&suite.tests, progpath.buf);
 				break;
 			}
 	}
@@ -208,6 +223,7 @@ static int testsuite(int argc, const char **argv)
 
 	string_list_clear(&suite.tests, 0);
 	string_list_clear(&suite.failed, 0);
+	strbuf_release(&progpath);
 
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/t/helper/test-tool.c b/t/helper/test-tool.c
index 80a946b847..f6fd0fe491 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-tool.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-tool.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ static struct test_cmd cmds[] = {
 	{ "dump-untracked-cache", cmd__dump_untracked_cache },
 	{ "env-helper", cmd__env_helper },
 	{ "example-decorate", cmd__example_decorate },
+	{ "example-tap", cmd__example_tap },
 	{ "find-pack", cmd__find_pack },
 	{ "fsmonitor-client", cmd__fsmonitor_client },
 	{ "genrandom", cmd__genrandom },
diff --git a/t/helper/test-tool.h b/t/helper/test-tool.h
index 2808b92419..868f33453c 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-tool.h
+++ b/t/helper/test-tool.h
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ int cmd__dump_untracked_cache(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__dump_reftable(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__env_helper(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__example_decorate(int argc, const char **argv);
+int cmd__example_tap(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__find_pack(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__fsmonitor_client(int argc, const char **argv);
 int cmd__genrandom(int argc, const char **argv);
diff --git a/t/run-test.sh b/t/run-test.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..13c353b91b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/run-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# A simple wrapper to run shell tests via TEST_SHELL_PATH,
+# or exec unit tests directly.
+
+case "$1" in
+*.sh)
+	if test -z "${TEST_SHELL_PATH}"
+	then
+		echo >&2 "ERROR: TEST_SHELL_PATH is empty or not set"
+		exit 1
+	fi
+	exec "${TEST_SHELL_PATH}" "$@"
+	;;
+*)
+	exec "$@"
+	;;
+esac
diff --git a/t/t0080-unit-test-output.sh b/t/t0080-unit-test-output.sh
index 6657c114a3..7bbb065d58 100755
--- a/t/t0080-unit-test-output.sh
+++ b/t/t0080-unit-test-output.sh
@@ -9,50 +9,50 @@ test_expect_success 'TAP output from unit tests' '
 	cat >expect <<-EOF &&
 	ok 1 - passing test
 	ok 2 - passing test and assertion return 1
-	# check "1 == 2" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:76
+	# check "1 == 2" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:77
 	#    left: 1
 	#   right: 2
 	not ok 3 - failing test
 	ok 4 - failing test and assertion return 0
 	not ok 5 - passing TEST_TODO() # TODO
 	ok 6 - passing TEST_TODO() returns 1
-	# todo check ${SQ}check(x)${SQ} succeeded at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:25
+	# todo check ${SQ}check(x)${SQ} succeeded at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:26
 	not ok 7 - failing TEST_TODO()
 	ok 8 - failing TEST_TODO() returns 0
-	# check "0" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:30
+	# check "0" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:31
 	# skipping test - missing prerequisite
-	# skipping check ${SQ}1${SQ} at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:32
+	# skipping check ${SQ}1${SQ} at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:33
 	ok 9 - test_skip() # SKIP
 	ok 10 - skipped test returns 1
 	# skipping test - missing prerequisite
 	ok 11 - test_skip() inside TEST_TODO() # SKIP
 	ok 12 - test_skip() inside TEST_TODO() returns 1
-	# check "0" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:48
+	# check "0" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:49
 	not ok 13 - TEST_TODO() after failing check
 	ok 14 - TEST_TODO() after failing check returns 0
-	# check "0" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:56
+	# check "0" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:57
 	not ok 15 - failing check after TEST_TODO()
 	ok 16 - failing check after TEST_TODO() returns 0
-	# check "!strcmp("\thello\\\\", "there\"\n")" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:61
+	# check "!strcmp("\thello\\\\", "there\"\n")" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:62
 	#    left: "\011hello\\\\"
 	#   right: "there\"\012"
-	# check "!strcmp("NULL", NULL)" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:62
+	# check "!strcmp("NULL", NULL)" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:63
 	#    left: "NULL"
 	#   right: NULL
-	# check "${SQ}a${SQ} == ${SQ}\n${SQ}" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:63
+	# check "${SQ}a${SQ} == ${SQ}\n${SQ}" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:64
 	#    left: ${SQ}a${SQ}
 	#   right: ${SQ}\012${SQ}
-	# check "${SQ}\\\\${SQ} == ${SQ}\\${SQ}${SQ}" failed at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:64
+	# check "${SQ}\\\\${SQ} == ${SQ}\\${SQ}${SQ}" failed at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:65
 	#    left: ${SQ}\\\\${SQ}
 	#   right: ${SQ}\\${SQ}${SQ}
 	not ok 17 - messages from failing string and char comparison
-	# BUG: test has no checks at t/unit-tests/t-basic.c:91
+	# BUG: test has no checks at t/helper/test-example-tap.c:92
 	not ok 18 - test with no checks
 	ok 19 - test with no checks returns 0
 	1..19
 	EOF
 
-	! "$GIT_BUILD_DIR"/t/unit-tests/bin/t-basic >actual &&
+	! test-tool example-tap >actual &&
 	test_cmp expect actual
 '