diff --git a/changes/testscripts b/changes/testscripts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d3ac79f521
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changes/testscripts
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+  o Testing:
+   - Use environment variables rather than autoconf substitutions to send
+     variables from the build system to the test scripts. This change should
+     be easier to maintain, and cause 'make distcheck' to work better than
+     before. Fixes bug 17148.
+
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 98f8d30ea7..798de27f82 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1647,9 +1647,6 @@ AC_CONFIG_FILES([
         src/config/torrc.minimal
         scripts/maint/checkOptionDocs.pl
         scripts/maint/updateVersions.pl
-        src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh
-        src/test/test_ntor.sh
-        src/test/test_bt.sh
 ])
 
 if test x$asciidoc = xtrue && test "$ASCIIDOC" = "none" ; then
diff --git a/src/test/include.am b/src/test/include.am
index f7c0204832..0b64299f42 100644
--- a/src/test/include.am
+++ b/src/test/include.am
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 
+export PYTHON=@PYTHON@
+export SHELL=@SHELL@
+export abs_top_srcdir
+export builddir
+
 TESTSCRIPTS = src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh
 
 if USEPYTHON
@@ -16,18 +21,11 @@ TEST_CHUTNEY_FLAVORS_IPV6 = bridges+ipv6-min ipv6-exit-min
 TEST_CHUTNEY_FLAVORS_MIXED = mixed
 
 ### This is a lovely feature, but it requires automake >= 1.12, and Tor
-###  doesn't require that yet.  Below is a kludge to work around.
+###  doesn't require that yet.
 ###
 # TEST_EXTENSIONS = .sh
 # SH_LOG_COMPILER = $(SHELL)
 
-check-am: set-test-permissions
-
-.PHONY: set-test-permissions
-set-test-permissions: $(TESTSCRIPTS)
-	$(AM_V_at)chmod u+x $(TESTSCRIPTS)
-
-
 noinst_PROGRAMS+= src/test/bench
 if UNITTESTS_ENABLED
 noinst_PROGRAMS+= \
@@ -194,4 +192,6 @@ EXTRA_DIST += \
 	src/test/ntor_ref.py \
 	src/test/slownacl_curve25519.py \
 	src/test/zero_length_keys.sh \
-	src/test/test_keygen.sh
+	src/test/test_keygen.sh \
+        src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh \
+        src/test/test_ntor.sh src/test/test_bt.sh
diff --git a/src/test/test_bt.sh b/src/test/test_bt.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..15d16cb4a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/test_bt.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Test backtrace functionality.
+
+exitcode=0
+
+${builddir:-.}/src/test/test-bt-cl assert | ${PYTHON:-python} "${abs_top_srcdir:-.}/src/test/bt_test.py" || exitcode=1
+${builddir:-.}/src/test/test-bt-cl crash  | ${PYTHON:-python} "${abs_top_srcdir:-.}/src/test/bt_test.py" || exitcode=1
+
+exit ${exitcode}
diff --git a/src/test/test_bt.sh.in b/src/test/test_bt.sh.in
deleted file mode 100644
index ca8be965d4..0000000000
--- a/src/test/test_bt.sh.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!@SHELL@
-# Test backtrace functionality.
-
-exitcode=0
-
-@builddir@/src/test/test-bt-cl assert | @PYTHON@ @abs_top_srcdir@/src/test/bt_test.py || exitcode=1
-@builddir@/src/test/test-bt-cl crash | @PYTHON@ @abs_top_srcdir@/src/test/bt_test.py || exitcode=1
-
-exit ${exitcode}
diff --git a/src/test/test_ntor.sh b/src/test/test_ntor.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..3d9ef7aaa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/test_ntor.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Validate Tor's ntor implementation.
+
+exitcode=0
+
+${PYTHON:-python} "${abs_top_srcdir:-.}/src/test/ntor_ref.py" test-tor || exitcode=1
+${PYTHON:-python} "${abs_top_srcdir:-.}/src/test/ntor_ref.py" self-test || exitcode=1
+
+exit ${exitcode}
diff --git a/src/test/test_ntor.sh.in b/src/test/test_ntor.sh.in
deleted file mode 100644
index be35384ddf..0000000000
--- a/src/test/test_ntor.sh.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!@SHELL@
-# Validate Tor's ntor implementation.
-
-exitcode=0
-
-@PYTHON@ @abs_top_srcdir@/src/test/ntor_ref.py test-tor || exitcode=1
-@PYTHON@ @abs_top_srcdir@/src/test/ntor_ref.py self-test || exitcode=1
-
-exit ${exitcode}
diff --git a/src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh b/src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5471cc9120
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# Check that tor regenerates keys when key files are zero-length
+
+exitcode=0
+
+${SHELL:-sh} "${abs_top_srcdir:-.}/src/test/zero_length_keys.sh" "${builddir:-.}/src/or/tor" -z || exitcode=1
+${SHELL:-sh} "${abs_top_srcdir:-.}/src/test/zero_length_keys.sh" "${builddir:-.}/src/or/tor" -d || exitcode=1
+${SHELL:-sh} "${abs_top_srcdir:-.}/src/test/zero_length_keys.sh" "${builddir:-.}/src/or/tor" -e || exitcode=1
+
+exit ${exitcode}
diff --git a/src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh.in b/src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh.in
deleted file mode 100644
index d1492d5e20..0000000000
--- a/src/test/test_zero_length_keys.sh.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
-#!@SHELL@
-# Check that tor regenerates keys when key files are zero-length
-
-exitcode=0
-
-@SHELL@ @abs_top_srcdir@/src/test/zero_length_keys.sh "@builddir@/src/or/tor" -z || exitcode=1
-@SHELL@ @abs_top_srcdir@/src/test/zero_length_keys.sh "@builddir@/src/or/tor" -d || exitcode=1
-@SHELL@ @abs_top_srcdir@/src/test/zero_length_keys.sh "@builddir@/src/or/tor" -e || exitcode=1
-
-exit ${exitcode}