diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6669bf0c6c..10aee94760 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@
 /git-remote-ftps
 /git-remote-fd
 /git-remote-ext
+/git-remote-testgit
 /git-remote-testpy
 /git-remote-testsvn
 /git-repack
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0f931a2030..5f424a7e19 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -460,6 +460,7 @@ SCRIPT_SH += git-mergetool.sh
 SCRIPT_SH += git-pull.sh
 SCRIPT_SH += git-quiltimport.sh
 SCRIPT_SH += git-rebase.sh
+SCRIPT_SH += git-remote-testgit.sh
 SCRIPT_SH += git-repack.sh
 SCRIPT_SH += git-request-pull.sh
 SCRIPT_SH += git-stash.sh
diff --git a/git-remote-testgit b/git-remote-testgit.sh
similarity index 79%
rename from git-remote-testgit
rename to git-remote-testgit.sh
index 2b865deeb1..2109070d00 100755
--- a/git-remote-testgit
+++ b/git-remote-testgit.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#!/bin/sh
 # Copyright (c) 2012 Felipe Contreras
 
 alias=$1
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ then
 	testgitmarks="$dir/testgit.marks"
 	test -e "$gitmarks" || >"$gitmarks"
 	test -e "$testgitmarks" || >"$testgitmarks"
-	testgitmarks_args=( "--"{import,export}"-marks=$testgitmarks" )
 fi
 
 while read line
@@ -70,7 +69,10 @@ do
 		fi
 
 		echo "feature done"
-		git fast-export "${testgitmarks_args[@]}" $refs |
+		git fast-export \
+			${testgitmarks:+"--import-marks=$testgitmarks"} \
+			${testgitmarks:+"--export-marks=$testgitmarks"} \
+			$refs |
 		sed -e "s#refs/heads/#${prefix}/heads/#g"
 		echo "done"
 		;;
@@ -87,17 +89,21 @@ do
 			exit 1
 		fi
 
-		before=$(git for-each-ref --format='%(refname) %(objectname)')
+		before=$(git for-each-ref --format=' %(refname) %(objectname) ')
 
-		git fast-import "${testgitmarks_args[@]}" --quiet
-
-		after=$(git for-each-ref --format='%(refname) %(objectname)')
+		git fast-import \
+			${testgitmarks:+"--import-marks=$testgitmarks"} \
+			${testgitmarks:+"--export-marks=$testgitmarks"} \
+			--quiet
 
 		# figure out which refs were updated
-		join -e 0 -o '0 1.2 2.2' -a 2 <(echo "$before") <(echo "$after") |
-		while read ref a b
+		git for-each-ref --format='%(refname) %(objectname)' |
+		while read ref a
 		do
-			test $a == $b && continue
+			case "$before" in
+			*" $ref $a "*)
+				continue ;;	# unchanged
+			esac
 			if test -z "$GIT_REMOTE_TESTGIT_PUSH_ERROR"
 			then
 				echo "ok $ref"
diff --git a/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh b/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh
index 16faa23154..4899af3f7a 100755
--- a/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh
+++ b/t/t5801-remote-helpers.sh
@@ -8,11 +8,6 @@ test_description='Test remote-helper import and export commands'
 . ./test-lib.sh
 . "$TEST_DIRECTORY"/lib-gpg.sh
 
-if ! type "${BASH-bash}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-	skip_all='skipping remote-testgit tests, bash not available'
-	test_done
-fi
-
 compare_refs() {
 	git --git-dir="$1/.git" rev-parse --verify $2 >expect &&
 	git --git-dir="$3/.git" rev-parse --verify $4 >actual &&