diff --git a/t/test-lib.sh b/t/test-lib.sh
--- a/t/test-lib.sh
+++ b/t/test-lib.sh
@@ -923,7 +923,7 @@
 then
 	GIT_EXEC_PATH=$($GIT_TEST_INSTALLED/git --exec-path)  ||
 	error "Cannot run git from $GIT_TEST_INSTALLED."
-	PATH=$GIT_TEST_INSTALLED:$GIT_BUILD_DIR:$PATH
+	PATH=$GIT_TEST_INSTALLED:$GIT_BUILD_DIR/t/helper:$GIT_BUILD_DIR:$PATH
 	GIT_EXEC_PATH=${GIT_TEST_EXEC_PATH:-$GIT_EXEC_PATH}
 else # normal case, use ../bin-wrappers only unless $with_dashes:
 	git_bin_dir="$GIT_BUILD_DIR/bin-wrappers"