diff --git a/util/build-gnu.sh b/util/build-gnu.sh
index 1589188b3..3455241a2 100755
--- a/util/build-gnu.sh
+++ b/util/build-gnu.sh
@@ -1,48 +1,73 @@
 #!/bin/bash
+# `build-gnu.bash` ~ builds GNU coreutils (from supplied sources)
+#
+# UU_MAKE_PROFILE == 'debug' | 'release' ## build profile for *uutils* build; may be supplied by caller, defaults to 'debug'
 
-# spell-checker:ignore (paths) abmon deref discrim eacces getlimits getopt ginstall gnulib inacc infloop inotify reflink ; (misc) INT_OFLOW OFLOW baddecode submodules ; (vars/env) BUILDDIR SRCDIR
+# spell-checker:ignore (paths) abmon deref discrim eacces getlimits getopt ginstall gnulib inacc infloop inotify reflink ; (misc) INT_OFLOW OFLOW baddecode submodules ; (vars/env) SRCDIR
 
 set -e
-if test ! -d ../gnu; then
-    echo "Could not find ../gnu"
-    echo "git clone https://github.com/coreutils/coreutils.git gnu"
-    exit 1
-fi
-if test ! -d ../gnulib; then
-    echo "Could not find ../gnulib"
-    echo "git clone https://github.com/coreutils/gnulib.git gnulib"
+
+ME="${0}"
+ME_dir="$(dirname -- "$(readlink -fm -- "${ME}")")"
+REPO_main_dir="$(dirname -- "${ME_dir}")"
+
+echo "ME='${ME}'"
+echo "ME_dir='${ME_dir}'"
+echo "REPO_main_dir='${REPO_main_dir}'"
+
+### * config (from environment with fallback defaults); note: GNU and GNULIB are expected to be sibling repo directories
+
+path_UUTILS=${path_UUTILS:-${REPO_main_dir}}
+path_GNU="$(readlink -fm -- "${path_GNU:-${path_UUTILS}/../gnu}")"
+
+echo "path_UUTILS='${path_UUTILS}'"
+echo "path_GNU='${path_GNU}'"
+
+###
+
+if test ! -d "${path_GNU}"; then
+    echo "Could not find GNU (expected at '${path_GNU}')"
+    echo "git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/coreutils/coreutils.git \"${path_GNU}\""
     exit 1
 fi
 
-pushd "$PWD"
-make PROFILE=release
-BUILDDIR="$PWD/target/release/"
-cp "${BUILDDIR}/install" "${BUILDDIR}/ginstall" # The GNU tests rename this script before running, to avoid confusion with the make target
+###
+
+UU_MAKE_PROFILE=${UU_MAKE_PROFILE:-release}
+echo "UU_MAKE_PROFILE='${UU_MAKE_PROFILE}'"
+
+UU_BUILD_DIR="${path_UUTILS}/target/${UU_MAKE_PROFILE}"
+echo "UU_BUILD_DIR='${UU_BUILD_DIR}'"
+
+cd "${path_UUTILS}" && echo "[ pwd:'${PWD}' ]"
+make PROFILE="${UU_MAKE_PROFILE}"
+cp "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/install" "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/ginstall" # The GNU tests rename this script before running, to avoid confusion with the make target
 # Create *sum binaries
-for sum in b2sum b3sum md5sum sha1sum sha224sum sha256sum sha384sum sha512sum; do
-    sum_path="${BUILDDIR}/${sum}"
-    test -f "${sum_path}" || cp "${BUILDDIR}/hashsum" "${sum_path}"
+for sum in b2sum md5sum sha1sum sha224sum sha256sum sha384sum sha512sum; do
+    sum_path="${UU_BUILD_DIR}/${sum}"
+    test -f "${sum_path}" || cp "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/hashsum" "${sum_path}"
 done
-test -f "${BUILDDIR}/[" || cp "${BUILDDIR}/test" "${BUILDDIR}/["
-popd
-GNULIB_SRCDIR="$PWD/../gnulib"
-pushd ../gnu/
+test -f "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/[" || cp "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/test" "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/["
+
+##
+
+cd "${path_GNU}" && echo "[ pwd:'${PWD}' ]"
 
 # Any binaries that aren't built become `false` so their tests fail
 for binary in $(./build-aux/gen-lists-of-programs.sh --list-progs); do
-    bin_path="${BUILDDIR}/${binary}"
+    bin_path="${UU_BUILD_DIR}/${binary}"
     test -f "${bin_path}" || {
         echo "'${binary}' was not built with uutils, using the 'false' program"
-        cp "${BUILDDIR}/false" "${bin_path}"
+        cp "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/false" "${bin_path}"
     }
 done
 
-./bootstrap --gnulib-srcdir="$GNULIB_SRCDIR"
+./bootstrap
 ./configure --quiet --disable-gcc-warnings
 #Add timeout to to protect against hangs
 sed -i 's|^"\$@|/usr/bin/timeout 600 "\$@|' build-aux/test-driver
 # Change the PATH in the Makefile to test the uutils coreutils instead of the GNU coreutils
-sed -i "s/^[[:blank:]]*PATH=.*/  PATH='${BUILDDIR//\//\\/}\$(PATH_SEPARATOR)'\"\$\$PATH\" \\\/" Makefile
+sed -i "s/^[[:blank:]]*PATH=.*/  PATH='${UU_BUILD_DIR//\//\\/}\$(PATH_SEPARATOR)'\"\$\$PATH\" \\\/" Makefile
 sed -i 's| tr | /usr/bin/tr |' tests/init.sh
 make -j "$(nproc)"
 # Generate the factor tests, so they can be fixed
@@ -112,7 +137,7 @@ sed -i -e "s|rm: cannot remove 'a/1'|rm: cannot remove 'a'|g" tests/rm/rm2.sh
 
 sed -i -e "s|removed directory 'a/'|removed directory 'a'|g" tests/rm/v-slash.sh
 
-test -f "${BUILDDIR}/getlimits" || cp src/getlimits "${BUILDDIR}"
+test -f "${UU_BUILD_DIR}/getlimits" || cp src/getlimits "${UU_BUILD_DIR}"
 
 # When decoding an invalid base32/64 string, gnu writes everything it was able to decode until
 # it hit the decode error, while we don't write anything if the input is invalid.
diff --git a/util/run-gnu-test.sh b/util/run-gnu-test.sh
index 1900bb523..53ec4fc98 100755
--- a/util/run-gnu-test.sh
+++ b/util/run-gnu-test.sh
@@ -1,28 +1,30 @@
-#!/bin/bash
-# `$0 [TEST]`
+#!/bin/sh
+# `run-gnu-test.bash [TEST]`
 # run GNU test (or all tests if TEST is missing/null)
-# spell-checker:ignore (env/vars) GNULIB SUBDIRS ; (utils) shellcheck
+#
+# UU_MAKE_PROFILE == 'debug' | 'release' ## build profile used for *uutils* build; may be supplied by caller, defaults to 'debug'
+
+# spell-checker:ignore (env/vars) GNULIB SRCDIR SUBDIRS ; (utils) shellcheck
 
 ME_dir="$(dirname -- "$(readlink -fm -- "$0")")"
 REPO_main_dir="$(dirname -- "${ME_dir}")"
 
+echo "ME_dir='${ME_dir}'"
+echo "REPO_main_dir='${REPO_main_dir}'"
+
 set -e
 
-### * config (from environment with fallback defaults)
+### * config (from environment with fallback defaults); note: GNU and GNULIB are expected to be sibling repo directories
 
 path_UUTILS=${path_UUTILS:-${REPO_main_dir}}
-path_GNU=${path_GNU:-${path_UUTILS}/../gnu}
-path_GNULIB=${path_GNULIB:-${path_UUTILS}/../gnulib}
+path_GNU="$(readlink -fm -- "${path_GNU:-${path_UUTILS}/../gnu}")"
+
+echo "path_UUTILS='${path_UUTILS}'"
+echo "path_GNU='${path_GNU}'"
 
 ###
 
-BUILD_DIR="$(realpath -- "${path_UUTILS}/target/release")"
-GNULIB_DIR="$(realpath -- "${path_GNULIB}")"
-
-export BUILD_DIR
-export GNULIB_DIR
-
-pushd "$(realpath -- "${path_GNU}")"
+cd "${path_GNU}" && echo "[ pwd:'${PWD}' ]"
 
 export RUST_BACKTRACE=1
 
@@ -31,5 +33,8 @@ if test -n "$1"; then
     export RUN_TEST="TESTS=$1"
 fi
 
+# * timeout used to kill occasionally errant/"stuck" processes (note: 'release' testing takes ~1 hour; 'debug' testing takes ~2.5 hours)
+# * `gl_public_submodule_commit=` disables testing for use of a "public" gnulib commit (which will fail when using shallow gnulib checkouts)
+# * `srcdir=..` specifies the GNU source directory for tests (fixing failing/confused 'tests/factor/tNN.sh' tests and causing no harm to other tests)
 #shellcheck disable=SC2086
-timeout -sKILL 2h make -j "$(nproc)" check $RUN_TEST SUBDIRS=. RUN_EXPENSIVE_TESTS=yes RUN_VERY_EXPENSIVE_TESTS=yes VERBOSE=no || : # Kill after 4 hours in case something gets stuck in make
+timeout -sKILL 2h make -j "$(nproc)" check ${RUN_TEST} SUBDIRS=. RUN_EXPENSIVE_TESTS=yes RUN_VERY_EXPENSIVE_TESTS=yes VERBOSE=no gl_public_submodule_commit="" srcdir="${path_GNU}" || : # Kill after 4 hours in case something gets stuck in make