diff --git a/tools/Makefile.in b/tools/Makefile.in
index 8c401ac036..3de71b1679 100644
--- a/tools/Makefile.in
+++ b/tools/Makefile.in
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
 CPPFLAGS=-I../src -I. @CPPFLAGS@
 
 # Tools test targets.
+# Use /bin/sh to use because the test is actually a shell script file.
 TESTS=testh5dump
+RUNTEST=/bin/sh
 
 # These are our main targets:
 PROGS=h5debug h5import h5ls h5repart h5dump