diff --git a/tests/run-tests b/tests/run-tests
--- a/tests/run-tests
+++ b/tests/run-tests
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ HGTMP="${TMPDIR-/tmp}/hgtests.$RANDOM.$R
 }
 
 TESTDIR="$PWD"
+export TESTDIR
 INST="$HGTMP/install"
 PYTHONDIR="$INST/lib/python"
 cd ..
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ run_one() {
 
 # list of prerequisite programs
 # stuff from coreutils (cat, rm, etc) are not tested
-prereqs="python merge diff grep unzip md5sum gunzip sed"
+prereqs="python merge diff grep unzip gunzip sed"
 missing=''
 for pre in $prereqs ; do
     if type $pre > /dev/null 2>&1 ; then