diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
index 64390d716d..8c57a00595 100644
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -884,8 +884,13 @@ then
 	}
 
 	make_valgrind_symlink () {
-		# handle only executables
-		test -x "$1" || return
+		# handle only executables, unless they are shell libraries that
+		# need to be in the exec-path.  We will just use "#!" as a
+		# guess for a shell-script, since we have no idea what the user
+		# may have configured as the shell path.
+		test -x "$1" ||
+		test "#!" = "$(head -c 2 <"$1")" ||
+		return;
 
 		base=$(basename "$1")
 		symlink_target=$GIT_BUILD_DIR/$base